By Brian Cook
Transcript Correspondent
Students have already started to splurge for their loved ones on Valentine’s Day. Tonight, they will likely spend even more.
Restaurants in the greater Columbus area stand to receive a boost in revenue for Valentine’s Day, with much of the money coming from students on dates.
Despite Columbus’s diverse options, sophomore Brian Williams said Delaware is a great place to celebrate, too.
“There are several nice restaurants in town that would serve my needs adequately enough,” he said.
Williams said he does not have a car and would not like to rely on someone else to drive him and his date to a restaurant closer to Columbus.
Junior Cory Poulton, however, said he felt a dinner in Columbus would be a better experience.
“I like going to the hole-in-the-wall restaurants that have been around forever,” he said. “It’s not that Delaware doesn’t have those restaurants, but I’ve been to a lot of them already. I think a newer experience would be more fun.”
Poulton said he bought tickets for the Ohio State basketball game on Valentine’s Day, so he will spend the night there with his girlfriend instead of going out to dinner. However, he said, they will likely go out for dinner at some point during the week.
Junior Madeline Miguel said she will not go out to eat on Valentine’s Day, but the restaurant options in town have nothing to do with the decision.
“My boyfriend is currently in Ireland doing the Cork Program that OWU has,” Miguel said. “So I’ll be Skype dating him instead of going out to dinner.”
According to a study published by TIME Magazine last year, the average American will spend $126.03 on gifts, food and other amenities for Valentine’s Day.
Poulton said his total tab will not quite equal the American average, but would not be shocked to hit triple digits.
According to the same study, about 220,000 wedding proposals will occur on Valentine’s Day, which account for about 10 percent of the annual total.
On the other end of the spectrum, the survey said there is typically a 40-percent increase in requests for divorce lawyers around mid-February.