Galentine’s Day by Mike Schur

Say what you will about Valentine’s Day — it’s a cynical way to sell flowers and chocolate, it’s heteronormative, it’s a seemingly mandatory logistical pain in the butt (“We have tables open at either 5:30 or 11:45 PM, and it’s a 150 dollar prix fixe. Table for two?”) — but the idea behind it is great.

What’s wrong with setting aside one day a year to think about a person you love?

If you can chip off the layers of irritating cultural and financial strain that have been lacquered on Valentine’s Day in America, what you find, at its core, is a simple request that we all pause for one day, look our husbands and wives and boyfriends and girlfriends in their collective eyes, and tell them they’re swell.

That simple truth is what led Leslie Knope to invent Galentine’s Day.

Because if you can set aside a day to celebrate your romantic relationship, you can sure as hell do the same thing for your female friends. “Parks and Recreation” was conceived of as the story of a friendship between two women — Leslie and Ann — very different people who complemented each other perfectly.

“Galentine’s Day” was conceived of as a way to show that Leslie cared as much about Ann, and her many other girlfriends, as she did about her romantic partnerships. So every February 13, she took them out to brunch, gave them personalized presents, celebrated their successes, and generally made a fuss about how wonderful they are.

Because what’s wrong with setting aside one day a year to think about a group of people you love?

Mike Schur is a writer, producer, director, and dad. He is known for his work on The Office, and is the co-creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. You can follow him on Twitter at @KenTremendous.