[Windswept]

I confess that I'm not crazy about the number 13 in general, but Friday the 13th has never bothered me too much. I can't remember anything bad that ever happened to me on a Friday the 13th.

If possible, I avoid doing important things on the 13th day of the month. For example, I had my tax return ready to mail on the 13th, but I waited and mailed it on the 14th.

I'm not *really* superstitious, though it may sound like it. But I do find the number 13 a very cold, unsympathetic number. I'm not crazy about number 9 either, if you want the truth.

I know hardly any of you are superstitious, but perhaps you have friends or family members who are. Have any of them had bad things happen on the 13th? Do they go to extra lengths to work around various superstitions?

Do you 'knock on wood'? Just wondering.

[shatteringglass]

Nah, I'm not superstitious. None of my friends are either.

...says the guy who's going to get hit by a car tomorrow.

[zsummers]

No.






I mean YES!







Oh God, I've jinxed myself.

[AWR]

I'm not a big fan of no. 13, or 3, 6, or 9 for that matter. I see them as 'lesser' numbers. I discriminate against them when convenient.

That said, I am not superstitious at all. I wouldn't schedule something around the 13th, or care if I walked under a ladder or was crossed by a black cat.

The only superstitious activity that seems to work - and it does so most of the time - is the knocking on wood bit.

And, finally, at the end of the day Windswept: We Want The Truth!

[Robo]

I like the number 13. In my writing, I normally use the number 12 to represent order and rule - 12 is not only used in our organizational systems often (12 hours in a day, 12 in a dozen), it has many different factors - 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. 13, however, is prime - not to mention considered to be unlucky. I use 13 to represent disorder, and rebellion against that rule.

My magnum opus, for example, has 12 parts...but I might add a suprise 13th part on to the end, just because I think it would be fun to throw everyone for a loop. (So keep that between us. )

This Friday the 13th is looking to be a good day for me - the thirteenth and final book in A Series of Unfortunate Events comes out, and pre-orders for the Nintendo Wii begin (hopefully I can actually pre-order one, and I'm not speaking too soon!).

[hiltond]

It is not only Friday the 13, but October, the spookiest month, which is cool. Everyone meet at Camp Crystal Lake. No it is just another day, but you can have fun with it. I tried to get splatter zone tickets for Evil Dead, but they were sold out for both shows today.

[Bryson]

I work in a theatre. Susperstitions are a big deal here. Luckily, tonight is a music event, not a theatre one, so no-one should freak out too much...

[Fahrenheit]

Damn it, I Work at a ladder company. Well, me and my cat.

[thegeriatric]

No of course not.


AARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.


*Thud*

[ZacMoose]

My partners birthday is October 13th so we like 13. She turns 21 today...

But before you ask why I'm posting on a forum on her 21st, she's not home yet, so it's just me and her new black kitten (seriously). No ladders around though, and the mirror is still in one piece, touch wood.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by AWR I'm not a big fan of no. 13, or 3, 6, or 9 for that matter. I see them as 'lesser' numbers. I discriminate against them when convenient.

Oh yes, so do I. Whenever I possibly can.

However, I had to rent a smallish storage locker, and the one I picked turned out to have the number 13-333. Ack!

That said, I am not superstitious at all. I wouldn't schedule something around the 13th, or care if I walked under a ladder or was crossed by a black cat.

I purposely taunt fate by making a *point* of walking under ladders, and most black cats I have known I thought were quite glossy and lovely. But like I said, I avoid doing stuff on the 13th. Actually, it hadn't even occurred to me that today 'was' Friday the 13th until I was checking out some webcams (sited in England) and noticed that the date on one shot said Fri Oct 13. I though, whoa!, that's a surprise.

The only superstitious activity that seems to work - and it does so most of the time - is the knocking on wood bit.

Yeah, I agree. But I'll bet a lot of people here have said "God bless you" when someone sneezes. Or "gesundheit". Isn't that to make sure you don't 'sneeze out' your soul, and that it goes back into your body quickly. I can see how primitive people might have thought that.

But you know, what a terrible thing it would have been to live in those times when people really 'were' superstitious. I think the Aztecs used to sacrifice young virgins to make sure the sun didn't disappear... or something like that. Basically, a person's fate was in the hands of any old witch doctor in times past.

[Eugene]

Maybe superstitious, but not about Fri. 13.

[Luca]

In China the number 4 is unlucky because the word for "4" sounds almost the same as the word for "death." But people who haven't been to China or don't know anyone from China probably don't know that. Are they less lucky on the 4th of the month, or on the 4th day of the 4th month, or at 4:44? No.

Similarly, there aren't too many Chinese that know of the Western superstition surrounding the number 13. Are they unlucky on the 13th of the month? Of course not.

I absolutely don't understand superstitions like this at all. Not one iota.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by ZacMoose My partners birthday is October 13th so we like 13. She turns 21 today...

Happy Birthday to her, ZacMoose. In the US, turning '21' is a big deal. It probably *isn't* nearly as much for you guys though, is it?

But before you ask why I'm posting on a forum on her 21st, she's not home yet, so it's just me and her new black kitten (seriously). No ladders around though, and the mirror is still in one piece, touch wood.

Glad to hear that about the mirror.

(Awww... kittens are *so* cute. )




By the way, was that a 'birthday' kitten? And did you 'purposely' get *black* because of her birthday being on Friday the 13th? Or did it just work out that way?

[Kickaha]

Naw, I'm not a big superstition believer. I have my quirks though, that used to border on OCD at times. If I was walking down the sidewalk, I'd count squares of the sidewalk in groups of 3, or if walking past a brick wall, I'd run my finger down it and count the bricks in groups of 8. Don't know why I started doing those, but I grew out of it after a few years. It bugged me if I didn't do it, but I finally shook it.

I guess those sorts of unconscious compulsions could be considered a form of superstition - a feeling that if you don't do certain meaningless acts, 'something is wrong'.

[Luca]

I know what you're talking about, Kick. I went through a phase, starting in junior high school and continuing until somewhat recently, where I had to avoid all sorts of invisible lines I drew on the ground. I'd imagine lines extending outwards from corners and objects and make an effort to not step on them. I also often fell into a pattern when walking sidewalks... if I didn't use exactly one or two or three steps per tile, I would occasionally keep track of a repeating pattern.

I don't do this nearly as much anymore, but I still catch myself doing it occasionally. I can remember doing the sidewalk pattern thing as recently as this summer. I would take one step at the near edge of a sidewalk tile, take the next step at the far edge, and the third step would be in the center of the next tile. Then the pattern would repeat. Very neat and orderly but absolutely useless.

[Windswept]

Yikes! Look at that face... and those *eyes*!

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Luca In China the number 4 is unlucky because the word for "4" sounds almost the same as the word for "death." But people who haven't been to China or don't know anyone from China probably don't know that. Are they less lucky on the 4th of the month, or on the 4th day of the 4th month, or at 4:44? No. Similarly, there aren't too many Chinese that know of the Western superstition surrounding the number 13. Are they unlucky on the 13th of the month? Of course not. I absolutely don't understand superstitions like this at all. Not one iota.

I wonder if we'll ever get to 'this' day and time:

4:44 on 4/4/4444

The way things are going in the world, it's hard to imagine that we'll actually *make it* to the year 4444.

*sigh*

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Farenheit Damn it, I Work at a ladder company. Well, me and my cat.

[thuh Freak]

my mother was born on a thirteenth (not october), and she gets a little weird sometimes when it lands on a fri the 13. i used to be deathly superstitious. i swore that all my gradeschool years were unlucky because in 1st grade i walked under a latter (7 years bad luck). i no longer believe in all that stuff. 13 does stick out when i notice it, bc its fairly common to associate it with superstitions. i don't avoid it or do anything different. i just notice it more.

i read that if ur name is Jason, u get in free to some kinda amusement park today.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by Luca Similarly, there aren't too many Chinese that know of the Western superstition surrounding the number 13. Are they unlucky on the 13th of the month? Of course not.

Quite the opposite in fact. In Cantonese the number thirteen is a homophone for "guaranteed birth."

[Luca]

Originally Posted by Windswept I wonder if we'll ever get to 'this' day and time: 4:44 on 4/4/4444 The way things are going in the world, it's hard to imagine that we'll actually *make it* to the year 4444. *sigh*

Of course we won't make it to 4444. No one's going to live that long. However, if you look at the human race, I do believe we'll get there. There will probably be plenty of roadblocks and setbacks along the way but I'm sure that humans will still be around in 2000+ years. I bet China will even still have some kind of a national identity - the place has been around for thousands of years, and something tells me it will be around for thousands more, even as the details change.

[GSpotter]

I just flew back today from a business trip to Berlin. Obviously, quite many people are superstitious: I sat in row 12. The next row number was 14...

[Kickaha]

Most hotels don't have a floor 13 for the same reason.

[Bryson]

And there's no way we would have a row 13, or a dressing room 13, either.

[Windswept]

Yeah, but *guess what?* - to all those dummies who happily sit in Row 14 or stay on floor 14?



Can't pull the wool over *their* eyes, huh?

[Elysium]

Here's a little historical tidbit for you:

The legend behind Friday the 13th comes from the day that Phillip the Fair (French king) arrested thousands of members of the Knights Templar who were then tortured into admitting "heresy". Why? To cancel his outstanding loans to them of course. Thus ended the Knights Templar as a major political and financial force in Europe.

And what day was that you ask? Friday October 13, 1307. 699 years ago to the day.

[Bryson]

Really? I thought it was because Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper, and then Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

[BuonRotto]

I used to live in apartment 14 of my building. It was the 13th apartment. No terrible fates were done unto me. I think it's so silly how people get all weird about stuff like that. In Italy, 313 is the unlucky number. 13 is a divine number in Catholicism at least.

Numbers in general strike me as cold and unsympathetic. 27 never called me back. 678 told me she wasn't looking for anything serious... the next morning.

[Elysium]

It really could be any number of things really. The Bible is full of references to bad things happening on Fridays.

I just like the historian perspective on this with the Templar incident. Of course there could always be an argument for the murder of Emperor Claudius by his wife to put Nero on the throne (Oct. 13, 0054). And we all know how good he turned out.