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NEWS & VARIETY
The Red & Black | Wednesday, February 14, 2001 1 3
Local shops get
ready for holiday
gift-buying rush
By KIMBERLY COOPER
kcooper@randb.com
Some students are happy
about the Valentine gifts they are
receiving today, while area
florists and gift shops will be
happy about all the profits the
holiday brings.
Valentine’s Day is one of the
busiest days for most flower and
gift shops across the country and
in the Athens area.
“We’ve had to stop our deliver
ies (in the past) on Valentine’s
day because we’ve had so many,”
said Peggy Butts, the bookkeep
er for Charmar Flower & Gift
Shop on Gaines School Road.
“Customers would end up
having to come and pick up their
orders,” she said.
Local stores interviewed by
The Red & Black said certain
items tend to sell more during
this time of the year.
Julie Ordett, an employee at
the Chocolate Shoppe on East
Clayton Street, wrapped a black
bow on a heart-shaped box of
chocolates as she talked about
the shop’s business around
Valentine’s Day.
“Our gift baskets sell good
during this time of the year,” she
said. “We’ve had a lot of people to
place orders for them.”
u
“It’s important for
customers to order early. ”
PEGGY BUTTS
Bookkeeper at Charmar
Flower & Gift Shop
Wanda Moore, owner of The
Flower Gallery on North Milledge
Avenue, said flowers are the
hottest selling items in her busi
ness for Valentine’s Day, followed
by stuffed animals.
“Our goody baskets are doing
good, but flowers are still the
hottest item,” Moore said. “Then
there are stuffed animals — you
know we girls like teddy bears.”
1 University students comprise
a portion of the shops’
Valentine’s Day business, some
store workers said.
“In the past week or so, we’ve
picked up on a lot of business
than we usually have,” Ordett
said. “And a lot of them are
younger University students.”
Butts said some of the
STEPHEN JONES | The Red a Black
a Beth Estes, an employee
at the Chocolate Shoppe for
two years, said she has
experienced the craziness
that Valentine's Day shop
ping brings each year.
Valentine’s Day business at the
Charmar Flower and Gift Shop
ties into the University.
Guys usually get short
changed on this day since they
do more of the sending while girls
receive, Butts said.
“We have nice young men
wanting to order valentines for
their girls and parents sending
gifts to their children at the
University,” she said.
Though some local gift shops
experience an increase in sales
during this time of the year,
Loraine Shelton, manager of the
Georgia Center gift shop said its
peak times in business aren’t
based on holidays.
“Actually, our busiest times
are during the football season,”
Shelton said. “It also depends on
the group that’s staying here —
whether it’s for a conference or
class.”
Several of the gift and flower
shops said they have problems
with people wanting to place
orders at the last minute and
advise people to start on time
when putting in Valentine’s Day
orders next year.
“It’s important for customers
to order early,” Butts said. “We
want to help them, but it’s very
difficult to help people at the last
minute.”
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Valentines Day: Holiday of tragedy and terror
Sure, Valentine’s Day may
seem like a good thing — buying
stuff for that special someone to
show them how much you care.
But for some, the reality of
Valentine’s Day is much more
grim.
For many, it’s the same every
year more Valentine’s Day relat
ed tragedy and terror.
. “My dog died on Valentine’s
Day, and my ex-girlfriend’s
birthday is on that day also,”
said one Red & Black employee
who was too distraught to give
his name.
This story may seem to be
only a terrible coincidence, but
the truth is that the inordinate
ly high amounts of joy and love
experienced by a few causes a
karmic imbalance for others.
There’s a void that must be
filled with negativity to prevent
the collapse of the entire uni
verse. When this dark tide
comes crashing in, many unfor
tunate people get caught in it.
“It’s an evil holiday, and all it
does is remind the single people
that they’re single, and they get
to see all the happy people
Steven Clark
sclark@randb.com
together and they get enough of
that evep' other day of the
year,” said senior Sandra
Seoane. Under normal circum
stances she’s a very cheerful
and friendly person but, like
many, has fallen under the spell
of the karmic realignment.
Every year, this problem gets
worse. The increasingly-aggres-
sive marketing push that lures
people to spend more and more
money in order to express then-
love for that special someone
has caused the feelings of nega
tivity to spread beyond the
ranks of bitter singles to those
who actually receive Valentine’s
Day gifts.
“(I hate) guys who think that
they can get away with buying
flowers from Kroger,” said Iva
Lane, a junior from Decatur.
“Kroger is where I buy my eye
shadow and shampoo, not
where I buy my tokens of undy
ing love and affection.”
This growing tsunami, which
may one day grow large enough
to cause the implosion of the
world, could soon be unstop
pable. However, there is some
thing every one of us can do to
prevent the world from ending.
Start small: remember, an
ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure. If you see some
one with a heart-shaped bal
loon, pop it. Sure, they may get
mad, but that’s the point.
Besides, think how mad they’ll
be when the world ends.
If you see someone with
Valentine’s Day chocolates, look
at their body disapprovingly
and tell them they shouldn’t be
eating such sweets in then-
current condition.
In short, for the benefit of all,
we must create a counter-holi
day, an Anti-Valentine’s Day if
you will. A day where the mean-
spirited and those whose hearts
have gone black from years of
rejection usurp control for the
greater good.
Keep the spirit of Anti-
Valentine’s Day in your cold
heart every second of the day.
Try to make everyone turn their
smile upside down. Show
strangers that you are making
them suffer for the greater good
by proudly extending your mid
dle finger into the air, signifying
that you celebrate the one true t
February 14th holiday.
Initially, these formerly, shiny,'
happy people may experience
feelings of pain. If you are cele
brating Anti-Valentine’s day as
intensely as you should be, they
may even cry. But when the
world doesn’t end in a few years,
they’ll have you to thank.
Together we can cut out this
tumor called Valentine’s Day.
Rally round me, my bitter single
brothers and sisters. Let’s start
a fire.
—Steven Clark is a variety
writer for the Red & Black.
Web sites offer ideas for Valentine haters 4
By MELANIE HORTON
mhorton@randb.com
If your Valentine’s Day soundtrack con
sists of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails instead of
Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,”
then you are probably among the throngs of
people who despise February 14.
If so, help is here.
The Internet, with its multitude of anti-
Valentine’s Day Web sites, has proven itself
as a place for people to vent their Valentine’s
woe or exact revenge on their ex.
At (www.evilholidays.com), one can per
sonalize and send evil Valentine’s e-cards —
greeting cards sent via e-mail — with mes
sages such as “Hope your Valentine’s sucks
as much as mine” and “Remember: Cupid
rhymes with stupid.”
On the American Greetings Web site, one
can find milder anti-Valentine’s that are
more humorous than hurtful.
Those looking to send flowers to someone
who has wronged them in the past should
head to (www.web-holidays.com/
heart/vcon.htm). The Web site tells
users what type of flowers symbolize rejec
tion (striped carnation), ingratitude
(buttercup) and many other negative
connotations.
Sending dead roses might seem like an
appropriate Valentine for the one you hate,
and although most Athens florists will
not provide such a service,
(www.RevengeUnlimited. com) will.
For a price of $49, Revenge Unlimited will
deliver a box of wilted or dead roses to the
person of your choice.
And, to satisfy the sweet tooth, Revenge
Unlimited offers a box of assorted, melted
chocolates for $34.
For the anti-Valentiner hoping to find
someone to share his negative Valentine feel
ings, tonight’s Bloody Ball, sponsored by the
Pagan Student Association, is the place
to be.
MORE INFORMATION
What: Bloody Ball
When & Where: Memorial Hall Ballroom at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $2 for those in costume;
$3 for those not in costume
For additional ideas, visit these Anti-Valentine
Web sites:
(www.evilholidays.com)
(www.web-holidays.com/heart/vcon.htm)
(www.RevengeUnlimited.com)
This is the association’s first
anti-Valentine’s Day dance, said Amanda
Wolfe, co-president of the Pagan
Student Association and disc jockey for the
ball.
The decorations will be “gory and gothic”
and all who come are encouraged to dress
up in their creepiest and bloodiest
Halloween costumes, she said.
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