It can be bad enough feeling like you're going to die alone as a singleton when you have to defend your lone-status to every distant relative at a family gathering - you know, while they gently remind you that your ovaries are a ticking time bomb.
But spare a thought for the twenty-somethings of Denmark, who have to undergo a public ritual (read: humiliation) if they dare to be single on their 25th birthday. The poor loves.
For some bizarre reason, it's tradition for unmarried 25-year-olds to get tied to a chair or a lampost and have one of their so-called mates lob a load of cinnamon all over them. It's like a very strange, European version of the Cinnamon Challenge.
Also just on a side note: how many people in this day and age ARE married before their 25th birthday? So you're pretty much guaranteed to get doused in aromatic spices on your quarter-century celebration.
Apparently it all dates back to the sixteenth century, when Danish spice salesmen devoted so much time to their trade, they forgot to find themselves a life partner. Seeing as that meant they ended up on their todd, it's become something of a tradition to cover single 25-year-olds in the popular spice ever since.
What a birthday present. Cheers to being alone.
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Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
