According to tradition, Friday the 13th is considered by many to be an 'unlucky' day. Curiously, the 13th on any day other than a Friday doesn't seem to be regarded with the same apprehension (despite 13 supposedly being an unlucky number in general), but put the day and the date together and some people fear the worst, only breathing a sigh of relief when Saturday 14th comes around. There are probably various possible explanations for the day's bad rep, one of them being that that there were 13 disciples at the last supper, but this is probably mere retrospective speculation.
However, here's what I wanted to ask you. Have you ever experienced a particular piece of bad luck or misfortune on a Friday 13th, and do you attribute it to the date, or instead put it down to mere coincidence? Details please, if you would be so kind.
14 comments:
Can't say that Friday 13th has ever been a particularly bad day for me (of course the days not over). Anyone that thinks an arbitrary day is "unlucky" is talking "pants" if anything happens its just a coincidence and a good foil or a horror story - I used to work with a woman that took Friday 13th off work and wouldn't leave her house on that day regardless , one year she had no leave left to take so she took the day off with no pay. she i a lovely person but fer goodness sake. Good and bad things happen all the time every hour and every minute of the day etc. Some superstitions like walking under a ladder have some roots in reality (something could fall on you) but things like throwing spilt salt over your shoulder is nonsense just wipe it up. Friday the 13th is not considered unlucky everywhere I think in Italy or Spain its a Tuesday and somewhere else its actually Friday 17th - that says it all. If its all done / taken a bit tongue in cheek then thats fine but some folk take these things to extremes and that OCD behaviour to me.
Same for me, PM - if anything unlucky has ever happened to me on Friday 13th, then I don't remember it. Thing is, if something bad happens on that day, it takes on a weird significance to people that it wouldn't have if it happened in Wednesday 11th. Weird, eh? I like to think that I'm not superstitious, but maybe at the back of my mind I'm wondering if something unlucky might happen - y'know, it's operating on an unconscious (or subconscious) level. I tend to make a habit of walking under ladders sometimes - not sure if I'm being a rebel or daring the fates - but I always make sure no one's at the top of them with a pot of paint in hand. Same thing goes for black cats; in some countries it's considered unlucky if one crosses your path, in other countries it's considered lucky. Go figure.
Offhand, I can't remember anything bad ever happening to me on Friday the 13th.
I had an employer who killed himself with a drug overdose on Thursday the 19th, and I remember the date because I remember thinking that the previous Friday was the 13th, and nothing had happened on that day that was any worse than usual.
My mother died on the 13th, but on a Saturday. And she was old, and her health had been getting worse and worse for months, so it is not as if she got struck by lightning or something.
Jesus and the Apostles numbered 13, and one of them double crossed Him. And the Crucifixion took place on a Friday.
B.C.E., Friday was associated with the Norse goddess Freya, so working or traveling on that day may have been considered disrespectful to her.
There is also a Norse myth that 12 Asgardian gods were having a meeting, and Loki showed up uninvited, making 13. That started a chain of events (long story) that led to the god Balder getting killed.
Did your employer intend to kill himself, TC, or was it an accidental overdose? Maybe there's someone out there who thinks Friday 13th IS unlucky, because it's the date they read this post. (Ho ho!) I wonder if people who are born on Friday 13th ever ponder whether their parents consider it an unlucky day?
We'll probably never know whether the boss committed suicide or accidentally overdosed while getting high. Either is possible. He suffered from severe depression for some time. The official verdict was heart failure. Yeah, well, your heart would probably fail too, if you injected yourself with enough animal tranquilizer to knock out an elephant.
I would like to say that I learned some valuable life lesson and could impart some moral or message. But the only advice I can offer, based on that experience, is: don't inject yourself with an overdose of animal tranquilizer.
I have to admit that it's a new one on me, TC - I never knew people could use animal tranquilizers to get high. Where would he get it? Was he a vet perhaps, or work in a zoo? (If so, as your boss, I presume you did too.) Such a shame regardless of whether it was deliberate or accidental.
He was a DVM, and I was a veterinary assistant at the time.
IIUC, ketamine was popular as a recreational drug in the 1990s. Maybe it still is. Animal hospitals are a common target for burglaries, since they have ketamine, valium, and other drugs.
Ah, that explains it then. I've never taken drugs of any kind for recreational purposes as I prefer to be in control of my faculties. Re-acquiring comics and toys, etc., gets me as 'high' as I need (or want) to be.
AFAIK, no one has ever died from an overdose of Corgi toy cars or Avengers comic books. Whether on Friday the 13th, or on any other date.
That's reassuring, TC. Of course, I'll now have to be extra-careful when moving big heavy boxes full of comics or toys from high shelves in case one falls on top of me.
Not sure if this is an urban myth, but I remember reading many years ago of a guy who was so superstitious that he wouldn't leave the house on Friday the 13th, and for extra safety stayed in bed all day- until one year his bedroom ceiling collapsed and broke both his legs as he lay in bed attempting to avoid bad luck.
Funnily enough, DS, what people usually say when they encounter bad luck is "I should've stayed in bed!" Clearly not in that guy's case, eh?
Around here, Friday the 13th has always been considered a lucky day. We just figured nobody else was using all that good luck on that day, so we might as well.
Then Kasey was born on Friday the 13th a couple decades back, and that pretty much cemented the feeling.
You're a guy who bucks the trend, 3. (I said 'bucks' - 'BUCKS'!)
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