‘Twas The Season To Get Engaged, Apparently

It's easy to feel depressed this time of year, what with the sub-zero temperature forcing you to become a recluse, your three-week-long hangover still lingering, your favorite pair of jeans barely fitting around your Christmas-cookie-induced belly, and that half-mile-long credit card bill burning a hole through your mailbox. Yep, the post-holiday blues are no joke.

And, thanks to the ubiquity of social media, there's now a new reason to get bummed out this time of year – especially if you're unhappily single. According to Facebook, Instagram, and if you dig deep enough, Vine, a whole lot of people got engaged over the holidays.

It turns out the intrepid scribes at The Atlantic noticed this trend too, and set out to prove that it was more than just the imaginings of a few disgruntled Tinder addicts (i.e. us). According to their research, 33 percent of engagements happen between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, while jewelers make 36 percent of their yearly sales from October through December.

See! We're not crazy.

The reasons behind the sudden surge in declarations of forever love are quite obvious. Christmas bonuses mean more disposable income, because rings, they aren't cheap. Ice-skating dates on frozen ponds, cuddling by cozy fireplaces, and big bowls of spiked eggnog are all conducive to grand romantic gestures. Families are already gathered for various celebrations, so you can save yourself the trouble of an awkwardly composed mass e-mail, or an afternoon spent making phone calls to estranged relatives.

Whoa. Now that we're looking at all the pros written down right in front us, getting engaged during the holidays kind of feels like the only way to do it, right? So, let's see. That leaves approximately 330 days to meet someone, fall in love, charm the family, buy a ring, and pop the question. Meanwhile, it's a Friday night, and here we are, in front of our computer, staring at the same screen we've been staring at all day. Not a good start. Not a good start at all. (The Atlantic)