Do You Avoid Cracks?

What a notorious day it is, don't you think? Friday the 13th has become an emblem in our culture as a day of caution and not doing anything too stupid. One of my favorite websites in the world, Snopes, goes a little bit into the history of Friday the 13th, and notes that linking the number thirteen with a Friday is actually a pretty recent phenomenon.

Really the number 13 and Friday have had rather long-standing stigmas surround them about their lack of luck so it was only a matter of time before the two were joined in unlucky matrimony. Speaking of matrimony, all of my Italian cousins that got married on a Friday (it's actually pretty common for us, Friday evenings to be exact) need to invest in some rabbits' feet since marriages borne of Fridays are supposed to be doomed. The number 13 also carries a huge weight in the Christian culture as it was the thirteenth man to dinner, Judas, that betrayed Jesus to the Romans and then killed himself. Really, it's only natural for Christians to attribute such a cursed number to avoidance. But what about the rest of us that aren't Christian?

Well, it would depend on just how superstitious you are. Personally, 13 is my lucky number. Has been for as long as I can remember. I can't say why, for sure, it just has. I have no fear of it at all. Actually, Saturday the 14th usually carries more Murphy's Law-ness than Friday the 13th for me. I am a knock-on-wooder and I do throw salt over my left shoulder with my right hand when someone (doesn't have to be me) spills it. I do have OCD so that could play a part but I wouldn't necessarily call myself superstitious. I'd just call it a tick more than anything else.

What about you? Does Friday the 13th scare the crap out of you or are you more like whatever? Do you have certain superstitious habits that you do all the time? Come on. On a day of fear, spill it.