Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Survey: Important to buy Valentine gift ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Most U.S. adults say it's important to buy a Valentine's Day gift for their sweeties while only half as many say receiving a gift is de rigeur. Advertisement A Harris poll of 2,985 adults found 61 percent said buying a gift for a sweetheart is important while only 31 percent said they had to receive one in return. The poll showed more women than men, 44 percent vs. 16 percent, said it was important for a current partner to cough up a gift or arrange a romantic interlude. Thirty-seven percent of those queried said they planned to exchange cards, 33 percent said they planned to go out for a romantic dinner and 28 percent said they planned to exchange gifts. Women were more inclined to cook a romantic dinner than men, 19 percent vs. 13 percent, while more men were inclined to go out for dinner, 38 percent vs. 29 percent. Advertisement Baby boomers are more inclined to exchange cards, Gen Xers, exchange gifts or cook a romantic dinner, and echo boomers, exchange gifts and go out for dinner. Nearly half of seniors queried (48 percent) said they had no plans. The survey was conducted in conjunction with the eHarmony online relationship service Jan. 12-17. Margin of error varied among sample subgroups but the survey had a 95 percent certainty rating. Romantic love seen as basic drive NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Romantic love is a drive as strong as thirst and hunger and a pleasure inducer as strong as drugs, money or chocolate, researchers say. "Emotions come and go. We feel euphoria, but we feel anxiety, too," said Lucy Brown of New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "This core system that is driving the person who is in love toward their sweetheart, that is much more important in a sense than an emotion," Brown told CNN. "Romantic love is not only an emotion, it's a basic mating drive, and it's stronger than the sex drive," said anthropologist Helen Fisher, author of "Why We Love." "It became apparent to me that romantic love was a drive -- a drive as strong as thirst, as hunger," the researcher said. Advertisement Intense passion can strike at any age, Fisher said, noting she has seen 8-year-olds and 70-year-olds who are madly in love. Web site offers Valentine's Day dates BEIJING, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Some 400 women who posted ads for Valentine's Day dates on a Shanghai Web site have attracted hundreds of thousands of respondents from would-be escorts. The Web site, www.51.com, opened a chat room and a special page through which women could advertise for a one-day boyfriend. With postings such as "Say no to a lonely Valentine's Day," the ladies have lured more choices than they bargained for. Some even posted contracts designed to ensure their celebrations would be confidential and one-time only. Those who advertised said they would prefer to have dinner and see a movie with a stranger than spend Valentine's Day alone, the South China Morning Post reported. Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor at Beijing University, said finding an "emergency date" for the holiday was a personal choice, but warned that casual online dating was not an appropriate way to find love. Wrong way driver travels seven miles on M4 LONDON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A Welsh motorist caused chaos by driving on the wrong side of the M4 motorway for seven miles after leaving Heathrow Airport. Advertisement The 69-year-old Cardiff man had just picked his wife up at the airport Saturday night. The officer who eventually pulled the man over said he was astonished that no one was killed, the Western Mail reported. The man, who was traveling about 80 mph, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving. His wife was taken to a hospital in "an extreme state of shock". Acting Police Sergeant Glen Powell, of Wiltshire Traffic Police, told the Western Mail last night, "How no serious casualty or fatality has occurred we will never know."
