Have you ever seen those displays of discounted chocolates after Valentine's Day and wondered what fool would buy one?

Well, I was one of those fools.

Early in our marriage, I bought a half-off box at a drug store for my wife, Clarissa.

As I remember, it was an impulse buy. I hadn't gotten her anything for Valentine's Day. I saw the cheap candy and thought Clarissa would enjoy it just the same.

It wouldn't have been so bad except that Clarissa choked on a hard, stale chocolate. 'No more discount Valentine candy,' she told me.

In our case, it's pretty much been no more Valentine anything else either. Clarissa told me early on she didn't care about the holiday. Perhaps because that's what I wanted to hear, I took her at her word.

Valentine's Day is another one of these simple traditions that has become a big commercial event. People have sent messages to each other on that day for hundreds of years. But now we're being pressured to buy our loved ones everything from teddy bears to diamonds or take them on expensive vacations. That's especially true this year, with Valentine's Day falling on what is a three-day weekend for many people.

The average American husband plans to spend $118.30 on a Valentine's Day gift this year, according to a Discover Card survey. That's a lot for an average, but it's down from last year's $125.30. Blame the economy, I guess.

The most popular gift from husbands: a special dinner, followed by flowers, candy, a night on the town, and clothing or lingerie. (Yes, isn't it like a guy to give his wife a negligee and call it a gift to her )

Well, the Discover survey made me feel absolutely cheap. So I decided to conduct my own survey of people like me: men working at the Journal.

The first reporter I talked to plans to give his wife a trinket box costing about $35. 'She never gives me anything,' he pointed out.

Reporter No. 2 is planning flowers. But he's thinking of taking her on a weekend getaway on top of that. 'My rule is, at least always get flowers,' he says.

Reporter No. 3 plans to give his wife a $100 orchid, the same present as last year. He's been married 28 years. What would happen if he gave his wife nothing for Valentine's Day 'It hasn't happened,' he says.

Reporter No. 4 always gives something on Valentine's Day. Sometimes it's just flowers. But he has spent as much as $500 on a fancy dinner. 'Some years I spend a lot, and some years I don't.'

At that point, I stopped my survey. Four strikes and you're out. Put kindly, I'm an outlier.

Now I've learned that Clarissa isn't as indifferent to Valentine's Day as I believed all these years. She just told me that she realized long ago that Valentine's Day wasn't a huge deal to me and chose to focus on my positive traits.

She didn't stop there, however: 'You don't get the point of Valentine's Day. It's to surprise your wife with something extravagant!'

Well, that made me feel like a cad. It didn't sound like flowers were going to dig me out of this one.

But as they say in our business: If you don't like the results of one survey, find another one. Just as I was finishing this column, along came a survey from the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education. It found that 75% of women would give up celebrating Valentine's Day altogether 'in exchange for greater financial piece of mind.'

As it happens, we are saving a lot of money for retirement right now. I could tell Clarissa, 'Honey, I'm trying to get you the best gift of all: financial security.'

Doesn't sound like a real winner, does it

So I'm taking Clarissa out for dinner this weekend at a Italian place that she really likes. I was also going to buy her a digital single-lens-reflex camera, something she's wanted for a while. Clarissa told me to hold off on that for now: Instead, she says she simply wants an orchid plant.

It's going to cost me a lot more than a box of stale chocolates, but I think I'm getting off cheap.

看到情人节过后的巧克力打折出售，你有没有纳闷哪些傻瓜会买呢？

嗯，我就是这些傻瓜中的一个。

在我们结婚之初，我就曾在杂货店里给妻子克拉丽莎(Clarissa)买过一盒打五折的巧克力。

我记得，那是一时冲动做出的购买决定。我还没有送给她任何情人节礼物。我看到了廉价的巧克力，心想克拉丽莎也会一样地喜欢。

如果不是克拉丽莎被坚硬变味的巧克力噎住了，情况可能也许不会如此糟糕。她告诉我，不要再买打折的情人节巧克力了。

就我们而言，几乎就没有什么情人节的礼物。克拉丽莎早就告诉过我，她不在乎情人节。也许因为这正是我想听到的，我就对她的话信以为真了。

情人节是另一个从简单的传统演变为大型商业事件的节日。几百年来，人们都在这一天彼此问候。但是现在，我们却面临着压力，要给我们的爱人买泰迪熊和钻石，或是带他们一起过花费不菲的假期。今年就更是如此了，对许多人而言，情人节正好处于3天的长周末期间。

Discover Card所做的调查显示，今年美国丈夫平均准备在情人节花费118.30美元购买礼品。就平均值而言，这个数字不低，但是没有去年的125.30美元高。我想，这都是经济惹的祸。

来自丈夫的最常见的礼物是：一顿特别晚宴，然后是鲜花、糖果，夜晚到城里潇洒，买套服装或内衣。（是的，是不是像一个家伙给他的妻子买了套睡衣，然后称其为给她的礼物？）

同时，Discover的调查让我觉得自己太吝啬了。所以我决定自行调查像我这样的人，即《华尔街日报》的工作人员。

我调查的第一个记者计划给他的妻子买一个35美元左右的首饰盒。他指出，她从未送过我任何东西。

第二个记者计划买花。但他也正考虑再带妻子进行一次周末度假。他说，我的准则是，花是必不可少的。

第三名记者的计划和去年一样，还是给妻子买一束100美元的兰花。他已经结婚28年了。如果情人节他不给妻子买任何东西会怎样呢？他说，还没出现过这种情况。

第四名记者每年情人节这天都会送礼物。有时就是鲜花而已。但是，他有时会花500美元在外面吃饭。他说，有些年我花得很多，有些年不那么多。

我的调查也到此为止。四个人都有所表示，就我没有。说得好听点，我是个另类。

现在我终于知道，克拉丽莎并不是像我这些年所认为的那样对情人节无动于衷。她刚告诉我，她很久以前就意识到我并未把情人节看做一件大事，因而选择更看中我性格中的积极一面。

不过，她没有就此罢手。她说，你还是不明白情人节到底是怎么回事。它是用奢侈的东西带给你的妻子惊喜。

的确，这让我感觉自己像个混球一样。看来一束花不会让我摆脱这点。

但是，正如我们这行里常说的那样：如果你不喜欢一项调查结果，那就再找一个。就在我撰写这篇文章时，又得到了一份来自人寿和健康保险教育基金会(Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education)的调查。这份调查发现75%的女性会完全放弃庆祝情人节，以换取财务上更大的发言权。

碰巧，我们正在为退休而省吃俭用地攒钱。我可以告诉克拉丽莎，“亲爱的，我正在努力给你一件最好的礼物：经济安全。”

听起来像个很好的主意，不是吗？

因此，这周末我会带克拉丽莎到她很喜欢的一家意大利餐馆就餐。我还打算给她买一部单反数码相机，这段时间以来她一直想买。克拉丽莎告诉我现在要先缓一缓：她说只想要株兰花。

这样的花费要大大超过一盒变味的巧克力，但我想我应该告别吝啬了。