Cards
Cidu Bill on Feb 14th 2010
Is there a country anywhere on this planet — with the possible exception of Themyscira — where men don’t spend more money on Valentine’s Day cards than women do?
(The full comic is here, by the way)
Filed in Bll Bickel, Greg Evans, Luann, Valentine's Day, comic strips, comics, humor | 14 responses so far
Kamino Neko Feb 14th 2010 at 03:59 pm 1
Japan. V-Day is girls giving to boys.
The return exchange happens a month later on White Day.
JR Feb 14th 2010 at 04:55 pm 2
And there’s Sweden, where stores desperately try to market Valentine’s Day and Halloween, only to be largely met with indifference. Forced, imported holidays? Got enough of those, thanks.
Louis Feb 14th 2010 at 05:40 pm 3
Kamino Neko, you beat me to it. But men tend to spend much less on white day than women do on Valentines Day - women often buy chocolate for all their friends, while men only buy chocolate for their lover, and occasionally ‘obligation chocolate’ for girls who bought them chocolate on V day.
Elyrest Feb 14th 2010 at 06:44 pm 4
‘obligation chocolate’ - how sad.
Kit Feb 14th 2010 at 07:56 pm 5
@Elyrest: Not if you’re on the receiving end
furrykef Feb 14th 2010 at 09:38 pm 6
Elyrest — ’tis Japan. My understanding is limited — I’ve never been there — but from what I can understand, obligation is a big, big thing over there. If you give a gift, this tends to make the other person feel obligated (more than in Western countries) to give something in return.
Chuck Feb 14th 2010 at 11:17 pm 7
My boyfriend didn’t get me a card this year. I don’t mind. The one I got him was not one of my best. Couldn’t find any cute blank ones.
mkilby Feb 15th 2010 at 02:42 am 8
@ JR (2) - Three cheers for the Swedes! In Germany, there is an irritating willingness to import all sorts of imported holidays and customs. At least Valentine’s Day was already a known concept here, but Halloween went from a minor oddity to a major commercial epidemic. It was formerly known only in a few areas that had major (American) military bases, but once the Harry Potter books publicized it a bit among kids, the industry discovered that they had a new marketable commodity. Two years ago the number of kids that rang our doorbell in suburbian Berlin was higher than at my parents place in the suburbs of Washington.
William Feb 15th 2010 at 08:17 am 9
In Japan, you can also give ‘tomo-choco’, which are when women give chocolates to female friends. In fact, school lunch on Friday at my elementary school included a muffin tart in the shape of a heart, which went out to all the kids. That would probably be a bit weird in America(?).
It’s also my understanding that the men are supposed to return the gift many times over on White Day. Not just chocolate, but expensive jewelery and designer clothing.
Keera Feb 15th 2010 at 03:17 pm 10
JR #2, same thing in Norway, too. Tain’t natural but younger Norwegians are embracing the new imports. This year we had a full-on collision with Mother’s Day and the first day of Lent. Mother’s Day and Lent won.
The Bad Seed Feb 15th 2010 at 08:10 pm 11
In general, amongst couples I know who are over 30 and who’ve been together for at least a couple of prior Valentine’s Days, the spending is generally pretty equal between the genders and usually $10 or less. People who “forget”/ignore the holiday and people who go hog-wild seem to be evenly split between the genders, at least for couples I know.
Chuck Feb 16th 2010 at 03:04 am 12
William that doesn’t seem weird. When I was in elementary school we had theme lunches for many holidays. Heart-shaped pastries are not unheard of.
igeek Feb 16th 2010 at 04:14 pm 13
My guess is it’s probably shunned in most Islamic countries.
Todd Feb 21st 2010 at 06:42 pm 14
V-Day? And White Day? In Japan. There’s a joke there. But I’m too much a gentleman to say it.