A couple weeks ago a friend asked me to accompany him to a family party. I hadn't seen him in a few months and I really wanted to go. I knew he had a girlfriend and I remembered the last time we hung out he had a girlfriend and she wasn't too happy that this cute, single girl was hanging around her man. So I asked why he didn't ask his girlfriend to the dinner.

'Haven't you read my profile? She's not in there anymore,' he said.

All his dedications to the girlfriend were replaced with quotes about bodybuilding. He must be totally over her. But then I got to thinking, do quotes about bodybuilding (or in my case shoes) in my profile mean you're single? Do no dedication of love, no initials joined to another set of initials by a heart and no sappy love quotes mean no love life? Since when do I have to justify or recognize my love with lyrics from Rascal Flatts? And how come there is no place I can express how in love I am with being single?

Which brings me to Valentine's Day. You may think I'm going to write about how much I hate this day. But that would be crazy because, as I am typing, I'm chowing down on conversation hearts. I am, however, a little upset that the world we live in is a little discriminatory toward singles, and Valentine's Day just happens to enhance the bias.

For instance, I decided to buy Valentine's Day cards for a few of my single friends, just to let them know how much I care about them. However, when I got to the drug store, the friendship cards are nothing more than the regular, everyday cards, just dressed up in pink and red hearts. There is no love for those that are single.

Today's technology gives us even more places to express love: in the instant messanger profile and in away messages, even the Facebook wants to know relationship status. There are multiple times I've found out people were in a relationship via away messages and quotes in their profiles. Whatever happened to expressing love by just telling others, not nauseating them with an endless, 'I love you Bobby Ray,' followed by way more exclamation points than is grammatically correct.

I know what you're thinking, why not just put 'single' in my profile. Are you saying you wouldn't think that looked desperate?

If I put hearts around it, I'm sure nobody would talk to me because they'd assume I'm totally against relationships. Neither is true by the way.

But when I am in my totally wonderful, perfect relationship with George Clooney, I'm not going to do something as mundane as post it in my AIM profile. I was actually thinking something bigger ' like painting it on a water tower. Talk about a real expression of love.

Single people aren't allowed to express how crazy they are about being single ' they are just looked at as crazy. Yet any time a person in a relationship gushes about how extremely in love they are or have to make a live production depicting their love, they expect us single people to be happy for them.

But are they happy for us when we finally find the courage to break-up with the abusive jerk or do they tell us someone new will come along soon? Do they congratulate us on our six month anniversary of being single? If they are really happy for us, why do they keep trying to fix us up with their cousin's best friend's next door neighbor's kid?

So here is my valentine to the single ones: to the single women who have to listen to their friends go on and on about their boyfriends and to the single guys who lost their best friends to a girl.

Here's to the late nights with good friends and not having to worry what your significant other is doing. Here's to planning your future around your dreams and your goals. And here's to braving this world alone and being stronger for it.

Happy Valentine's Day!