Is Valentine’s Day worse than Christmas for postal workers? According to workers at the Ames Post Office, 210 Welch Ave., the answer is yes.

Workers said the Christmas season may inspire more mail during December, but for Valentine’s Day, the bulk of cards and packages tends to reach the post office right before Feb. 14.

Post office workers and flower shop owners deal with the massive amount of business Cupid creates.

At Coe’s Campus Flowers, 303 Welch Ave., owner David Coe and several workers were busy stripping thorns and extra leaves from roses and floral arrangements.

It is obvious that floral shops are busier around Valentine’s Day. Coe’s prepares by hiring more employees and starting their planning the year before, Coe said.

There is a lot of work and overtime, he said.

Roses must be ordered from the growers by January 23.

The wholesale price for roses goes up near the holiday, so the store’s price must rise also.

Workers agreed that it is usually mostly men who come in to buy flowers. Roses are definitely their biggest sellers.

In Coe’s flower cooler, there are 3,500 red roses, along with 400 colored roses, as well as a wide variety of flowers.

Candies, plush animals and more than 250 balloons also are sold for the big Love Fest.

The on-campus post offices were also preparing for Saturday.

James Ziebold, the manger for Postal and Parcel Services, an on-campus organization that operates in General Services Building, said mail increases greatly from the beginning of February up until the big day.

Since his business deals only with the packages and mail that goes to campus buildings, Ziebold’s main problem with Valentine’s Day is the amount of packages that threatens to swamp the small space his mail room has.

Amy Miller, a junior in journalism and mass communication, who works at the Wallace-Wilson Post Office, also expressed concern for space.

She said there’s not necessarily more packages, but the floral arrangements, balloons and stuffed animals tend to take up a lot of room.

They can also be depressing to look at for people who will not be receiving any special gifts, Miller said.

At the post office in Ames at 525 Kellog Ave., Kim Meimann, the distribution manager, said some of the problems his workers face are odd-sized cards that don’t have the right amount of postage on them, envelopes that are stuffed with candy, and difficulties with optical scanners that cannot read addresses off the red and pink backgrounds.

Another hardship the postal workers have to deal with this year is that Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday, followed by President’s Day on Monday.

Although this means nothing to the average college student, this is a vacation day for postal workers.

The mail will have a chance to accumulate by Tuesday when employees return from their long weekend of love.