Love is all you need — and chocolate SHE SAID - PAIGE NICKA guy I know has an annual dating blackout between New Year's Eve and March 1. No exceptions, not a crush, not even a supermodel. If Cara Delevingne showed up at his door in nothing but a man's shirt, he'd ask her if she could come back in March.He's allergic to dating over this period because of Valentine's Day. The possibility of ''being" with anyone in February terrifies him. And he's right; it's a "nonsense" holiday. I know this, I feel this and I agree with this - and I wish I could live by this, but it turns out I can't.I've been single for decades, partly by design, partly by personality and thigh size and partly because I've been too busy sport-dating for material to take any of it seriously. So I'm usually unattached on V Day. But last year I was in a relationship.Shortly before V Day D-day we agreed not to buy into the commercial lunacy. I felt smug; I'd managed to be the awesome, low-maintenance girlfriend I'd always imagined I'd be.It rolled out like a normal day. I felt bereaved. I FINALLY had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day. He could have wished me at the very least, bought me a flower, a Lindt Ball, or a piece of lint at the very least. A small gesture. Something, anything. Not ignore it altogether; that wasn't what I meant when I said, let's not do anything. When I confronted him he said: "but you said."I tried to avoid sounding like a lunatic, but it was unavoidable. I didn't want him to do flying lessons, rent a plane and write my name in the sky with neon smoke. That would have been a little over the top. But a Chomp would have been nice. A small acknowledgement that we're together on this day made for people who are together.I see now why guys avoid it. They should. It's a minefield, filled with undetonated crazy bombs. Run, guys, run for your lives.HE SAID - JASON MYKL SNYMANA lot of people dread February. I know people whose Facebook relationship status is "Sleeps diagonally in bed" - and the looming of that Hallmark Monster, Valentine's Day, doesn't make it easier.It's difficult to agree with the existence of Valentine's Day, either way - I loathe everything about it. That said, in a world of temporary things, it's difficult to be cynical in the face of love.We all know that the modern Valentine's Day is another of those days invented to guilt us into spending ridiculous sums of money - last year the US alone blew$19-billion on Valentine's Day gifts - but hell, there's got to be a reason love songs have the word crazy in the title, it's a day for craziness.Charles Schulz said: "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."Unsurprisingly, Richard Cadbury of the Cadbury chocolates family came up with the earliest known box of Valentine's Day chocolates in 1868.Valentine's Day is the busiest day for florists worldwide. Condom manufacturer Durex reports that condom sales go up by 30% on Valentine's Day, while more home-pregnancy tests are sold in March than any other month.And here I am - the only time I've passionately swept everything off a table was when trying to make room for a pizza. I'm not the most romantic guy - but I know the value of real love, as opposed to a dozen fragrant flowers killed in their prime to be used as a token of love. When I buy Valentine's gifts I go for meaning, something which survives beyond the day.This February 14 - beware the companies who manufactured this holiday. Beware the glorification of emotional porn. Beware any Cameron Diaz chick flicks.But at least smile and remember: true love will always find a way through the paths where the profiteering wolves fear to prey...