This year is a Leap Year and today is Leap Day, an extra day in February that comes only every four years. It is no ordinary event because according to age old tradition, the 29th day of this month gives women the right to propose to the men they see a future with. In America, that's not a cause for rejoicing. In this part of the world, a woman can propose to any man any time of the year. Haven't you been watching "The Bachelorette"?
Leapsters, as people born on this day are fondly referred to, have the convenience of (technically) getting older only every four years. For women, that’s a plus factor! Imagine, adding a year to your age only quadrennially of your life! That means that if you were born in 1952, and you celebrate a birthday only every four years, you have bragging rights to being only 15 years old this year! What is the chance of turning half a century in your lifetime? The bad news is, you might never get to collect your Social Security pension!
The Leap Year tradition might have originated from an old Irish folklore. It is believed that due to a deal struck by St. Bridget with St. Patrick, women are allowed to propose to men every Leap Year. In the middle ages, there were laws governing the Leap Year tradition. In the upper class society in some places inEurope , if a man refuses a woman’s proposal on this day, he has to buy her a dozen pairs of gloves so that she can save herself the public humiliation of an engagement-ring-less finger. In some places, men were penalized with a sum of money if a woman’s marriage proposal was rejected on Leap Day.
The Leap Year tradition might have originated from an old Irish folklore. It is believed that due to a deal struck by St. Bridget with St. Patrick, women are allowed to propose to men every Leap Year. In the middle ages, there were laws governing the Leap Year tradition. In the upper class society in some places in
In some countries there are also bad luck connotations associated with this day. Being born on Leap Day in Scotland has the Friday the 13th association and used to be unlucky. In Greece
For more details on Leap Day, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year. Interesting facts can be found in http://leapyearday.com/. Want to know if you were born on a leap year? Click list of leap years to find out.
photo credit: the globeandmail.com
