Friday the 13th

 

Superstitions

 

Friday the 13th, a notoriously frightful day, teeming with cryptic, mysterious, and fantastical Superstitions and Adages.

 

For the record, I am not a superstitious person. (Liar) The over-analytical gene I was born with does not invite such hogwash and hooey to the party inside my head, but I do avoid black cats. 

 

Let us begin, . . . Red sky in the morning, sailors warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.  I suppose it means smooth sailing weather is ahead. This meteorological prognostication is probably more reliable than a local weather prognosticator. However, I think it might mean, red eyes in the morning, sailors are hungover. Red eyes at night, sailors are drunk and happy!  

 

Being a casino addict, I hear this one a lot – Beginners Luck. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge anyone who is lucky enough to rake money from the casino, but if you’re a harden gambler like me, hearing someone say they won because of Beginners Luck - it's really annoying.

 

A humorous one – Rub a rabbit’s foot for good luck.  Human imagination never ceases to amaze me. So, the person who came up with this one was no doubt a very creative person. Rubbing a rabbit’s foot or even carrying one around with you, on purpose, is pure gold. I feel you; we all do what we must to get through the day!

 

Garlic keeps the Vampires at bay

Knock on wood is a classic. It is meant to preclude/circumvent/thwart something bad from happening, and if there is no wood available to knock on, a person will knock on their own head or on a friend’s head. (Humans are very silly.)

 

Opening an Umbrella Indoors is believed to be very bad, and it will bring bad luck to all those who do so. No doubt, eventually, there will be a lawsuit brought before the courts, because the umbrella manufacturers did not stamp a warning label on the Umbrella that reads – DO NOT OPEN IN DOORS, BECAUSES IT CAUSES BAD LUCK. (I want to be in the court room on that day.)

 

Finding or Having a Horseshoe will bring you good luck. I believe it is highly unlikely anyone would find a horseshoe just lying around in the street nowadays. So, if you do find one, it probably will bring you good luck. Warning: make sure you never turn it upside down, because all the luck will run out!!!

 

At the end of every Rainbow is a Pot of Gold. I have done extensive field research on this one, and my findings prove it is 100% false, dammit!

 

The Wedding Veil Protects the Bride from the Evil Eye. I did not know this one until I met my ‘Greek’ wife. Her people are from the old country, and the ‘evil eye’ is big time juju with them. When I saw her father spit on my newborn son; supposedly meant to ward off evil, she had to stop me from punching him in the face!

 

A Sailor Wearing an Earring Cannot Drown. Well, if the earring was the size of a life-preserver then I might believe this one. Interesting fact though, the reason why old-time sailors wore a gold earring was to pay for their coffin and other funeral expenses, those without one; well, they probably just got tossed into the sea.

 

That’s all for now, folks. Be careful out there today, Friday the 13^th can be particularly dangerous if you’re not wearing a garlic necklace. I suggest we all stay indoors and hide under the covers.

 

-jk-