Plunged: 💞

'Tomorrow your farts will smell like chocolate!'

I'm not sure if they still do it, but if you attended grade school in the 80's like did, you all remember this Valentine's tradition.  You remember, you decorated a brown lunch bag with hearts and sayings, and then taped it to the corner of your desk in homeroom.   Then, on February 14th, you dropped Valentine's cards in each of your classmates bag.

We had to give Valentine's to everyone in the class, not just our friends or favorite classmates.  We gave to everyone, boys, girls, friends we liked, and even the class assholes and bullies. What we could control however, was which Valentine we gave each person.  Most of us gave out pre-made boxed videos bought at the dollar or drug store.  A few keeners made their own, but usually they were from a box.

I was deep in the closet during grade school, so deep, I'm not sure I knew I was in it at the time.  I do however, remember spending more time than needed, deciding who got what Valentine card from the box.  Most of us gave the 'girlie' cards to the girls, and the 'boyish' cards to the boys.  You know the boyish cards, the ones with cowboys, policemen and cars.   

No matter how many cards were in that box, there were some that were generally a little bigger, and a little popular than others.  Those went to the people you really liked.  I remember giving this card to a cute boy in my class, a boy I knew was good looking, but didn't really know that well.  The card seemed rather 'boyish' with a superhero smashing a bad guy in the face. The caption, however, which said,  'you're such a knockout.' made have given me away.  Not to him necessarily, but maybe to the teacher or his mother.  Adults always seemed to know our secrets, even if we didn't.  It was always exciting to plunge your hand in your bag at the end of the day on the 14th.  Hoping you got a 'bigger' and special card from those you liked.

Cole

When I was in late twenties, I got my first job as supervisor.  Even though I supervised adults, I brought the tradition into the work place in February.  I thought it might be fun, and as the boss, added chocolate and candy to the bags everyone had on their desk.

Initially, the people I worked with thought it seemed silly and fun, but on the day, it was actually pretty stressful.  Our, (my) rule was that the cards had to be homemade, and it was interesting to see how much time and effort some put into their cards.  It was also noted by everyone who gave who the biggest, and most elaborate cards.  The hand written messages were also interesting to read. Some, who didn't get along, tried sarcasm to mask their feeling towards another, other let previously unknown feelings out for the first time.  In the end, we only did it that one time, but people did seem to enjoy their chocolate. 

This Valentine's Day, I was lucky to have been sent some homemade Valentine's Day cards from two of my favorite contributors.  Cole, (above) who we last saw on FH over Halloween, (HERE:) stripped down to the tightest of red thongs to create images to help celebrate the holiday.  

I love Cole's look and energy in front of the camera.  I was actually first introduced to Cole through his work with Roger from RMark Photography who also create two Valentine visuals, this year featuring Mike and Christian. (below)      You can check out more of RMark, and his work with Cole by clicking HERE:

Mike

Christian