On Valentine’s Day, after the afternoon BYU vs. Colorado basketball game, we drove to the Red Lobster restaurant. We naively thought that we might be able to slip in there and get seated at a table for two in a corner. There was a mob of people there. We didn’t even get close to the hosting area.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to use the joke that I sometimes get a chance to use. It goes like this: Host/Hostess: Do you have reservations? Me: Yes, but I’d like to eat here anyway.

Evidently many of the people waiting had real reservations for appointed times to be seated. We didn’t.

We wound up at Jim’s Family Restaurant in American Fork. There were lots of people there, but we were seated immediately. The prime rib was good and reasonably priced. The wait staff and patrons were friendly — lots of greetings back and forth with everyone. We had a fun visit with an 86 year-old Air Force veteran and his wife.

I thought to myself that even though quasi-holidays like Valentine’s Day get exploited and commercialized, it’s a good tradition. It gives us an excuse to go out and celebrate the love in our relationships.

If you have a special someone, including friends, it’s traditional to remember them on that day. Some people have given Valentine’s Day a different name: Singles Awareness Day. The old joke in college: What’s the difference between you and a calendar? A calendar has a date for Valentine’s Day.

So anyway, the concept of “tradition” was planted in my mind during dinner. After dinner, we went to the “The Ruth” (The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater) in Pleasant Grove. We saw the musical stage show “Fiddler on the Roof.”

When the opening song of the show entitled “Tradition” was sung, it was a connecting moment for me. I think these kinds of “connection episodes” are quite common in our lives. Sometimes we notice them. Sometimes we don’t.

I think there are multiple messages in the song, and in the show itself, having to do with our lives and traditions. Many things we do are based on the “because we’ve always done it that way” principle.

Tevye, the main character of the show, is the father of three daughters. Each daughter grows up and falls in love. Each “love story” presents progressively more difficult tradition breaking situations. There is humor along the way, but life is tough. Traditions are strong.

Not related to the show, many of us have heard the story of the mother teaching her daughter how to roast meat in the oven. The mother instructed that the end of a roast should be cut off as part of the preparations. The cut-off end was put in the pan to the side of the roast.

When asked the reason for doing that, the mother explained that it was because her mother had taught her to do it that way. When the grandmother was consulted, she told them that her mom taught her to do it that way. That was because they never had a pan big enough for the whole roast to fit into. So they always cut off the end to make it work.

So that’s just how they always continued to do it. A practical solution, to a particular problem from generations before, created a tradition. A tradition which persisted long after the relevance existed.

But that’s how we live much of life. Traditions are everywhere around us. Some are good and some are bad.

I’ve had to change how I look at what I considered a good tradition. It has now become a less than good tradition. I’m talking about the tradition (habit/addiction) of the very frequent nightly eating of ice cream.

The background/wallpaper picture on my phone is a homemade ice cream shake with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a few Captain Crunch cereal pieces (including a crunchberry) on top. It’s been there for years.

Many people say that you should put what or who you love as your phone’s background picture. I agree.

The doctor now tells me that eating a pint of ice cream nightly is not such a great tradition. Given my sugar test numbers, I guess I have to agree. I’m adjusting my long held tradition. Dang it!

Interestingly, for me anyway, seeing the play “Fiddler on the Roof” was breaking a tradition of mine. Somewhere along the way, it became a “thing” with me (a prideful tradition). I’d never seen it, nor did I intend to see it.

The movie came out in 1971. The stage show opened in 1964. It’s beloved and it has endured. It is often staged by high schools and colleges. It has “legs” as they say. It was good to finally “come down off my high horse” and see the show. It was good. I don’t regret seeing it. In fact, I recommend it.

I have a friend who has never seen the movie “The Sound of Music.” It’s the same kind of tradition for him. If he predeceases me, perhaps I’ll put the DVD of the movie in his casket — together with a check for any money that I may owe him.

Being aware of the traditions in our lives helps us make decisions. When I believe that a tradition is good, I’ll help perpetuate it. Going on a date with my wife for a Valentine’s Day basketball game, dinner and a show fit into that category.

Good luck Sanpete in navigating the traditions you encounter from day to day. Embrace the good. Ignore the bad. — Merrill