had contact with several other women while they were together . `` I 've never been a big fan of the holiday , '' Sullivan says . `` But now I typically refer to it as Black Monday ... '' Watch whether romance is still alive '' Good times , bad times Sullivan is n't alone in dreading Valentine 's Day . Thanks to super-sized expectations and over-the-top commercialization , February 14 has gone from a sentimental aside to a pressure-filled gauntlet lined with chocolate boxes , tennis bracelets and cheesy stuffed bears . See where the love dollars go '' `` The holiday 's designed to make you feel -LRB- bad -RRB- , '' says Judy McGuire , author of `` How Not to Date . '' `` If you 're in a relationship , it 's never anything that it 's supposed to be . And if you 're single , you feel like a big loser because you do n't have anybody . I think people should lower Valentine 's Day expectations to pretty much nil . That way , anything that happens is good . '' Brian Wise , a 32-year-old technical writer from Seattle has
-LRB- LifeWire -RRB- -- For some , Valentine 's Day can be heavenly . For others , it 's just plain hell . Take Felicia Sullivan , of Brooklyn . Four years ago , she and her live-in boyfriend -- the guy she thought she would marry -- were having a pre-Valentine 's Day brunch when Sullivan leaned over and whispered a few sweet nothings in his ear . `` I said , ` I 'm so happy to know that you 're the one for me . Are n't you glad to know I 'm the one for you ? ' '' says Sullivan , 32 , who works in marketing . `` And there was this silence . And then he was , like , ' I know you 're the one for me now . But can you give me until summer to make a final decision ? ' '' Aghast at his response , Sullivan quickly broke things off -- but she could n't move until she found a new apartment . Home alone on February 14 in the apartment they shared , she decided to snoop through her ex-boyfriend 's e-mail and discovered he 'd