It is actually a good sign if you have never had a long relationship.

Friends no longer talk about knocking back submarines in the pub (in case you're wondering, that's a whistle with a Flügel in it). Friends talk about buying houses with their partner.

That's obviously crazy and I wish them the world. Also the cohabiting world. But sometimes it's strange to notice that the days always seem long, but the years fly by. Just yesterday we were kissing in some vague smoke cellar after a little bit of a two-euro pasta, and today we're dining with wines from the top shelf of Gall & Gall and then we go to bed. It's weird to be almost thirty . We work, we have a relationship, we have a fixed weekly rhythm. No, no, we even exercise. Not necessarily to make it to the first team to be more popular and to be able to grind with all the guys at hockey parties, no, just to be healthy. To feel fit. A yoga school unfortunately doesn't throw grinding parties.

And while I discuss potential offspring with most friends, whether or not to buy a house outside the Ring and whether or not to buy cheese at the market on Saturday mornings, there are definitely a number of friends who are still happily single. And some friends have never even had a long relationship. I was thinking about that when I stumbled upon this funny little study: it's a good sign if you've never had a long-term relationship.

Here's the thing. If you are single year after year, you become a lot more independent. You can literally take care of yourself. I can only be jealous of that. One friend has a job that very few men can match, her own apartment with everything included, and she goes to a trendy party every weekend. Another single friend saves up, builds her own buffer, and goes on vacation with one group of girls and colleagues after another. If you've never settled down for long, you also don't know what you're missing. Maybe you're missing nothing at all. You have all the time to find yourself, discover what you enjoy in life, and do what you feel like doing. I don't always feel like cooking schnitzels with peas, but yes, that's what my guy likes. As a single, you have nothing to do with that and can eat cordon bleu with corn whenever you feel like it. As a single, you stand stronger in your shoes than when you're in a relationship. This makes you attractive, scientists say. They prove that those who have never had a relationship are often more attractive than those who have been settled for ages. Well, here I am with that bourgeois cheese from the market.

Still, I am happy with this research, even though I am more than steadily settled and am even going marry in three months, because it's a small ode to my scarce group of single buddies. I am proud of you all. We'll toast to that soon, with a submarine.

FACTS

• Bourgeois life 2.0: each year, we Dutch drink about 100 liters of tea.
• Anyone thinking about kids thinks about saving. Raising a child and letting it grow up in Holland costs you as a parent quickly 80,000 euros.
• At least 78% of all parents believe that kissing your own child on the mouth should be perfectly fine.