Superstition

The Magic Number Thirteen

In 2009, it was at least three times we saw a Friday the 13th. What seems like an even more startling coincidence is the fact that February and March both saw the 13th fall on a Friday.

Every Friday the 13th I update my voice mail greeting to:

“Hi. This is Thom. I am unable to take your call a the moment because I am

- Under a ladder

- Sitting on a crack

- repairing a mirror I broke

- while throwing salt over my shoulder

… there goes a black cat crossed my path!

Leave me a message and, WITH ANY LUCK, I will return your call later”

In honor of this momentous occasion, I feel obliged to remind you of my sincere belief:

It is bad luck to be superstitious!

Although there is an entire cultural stigma surrounding any Friday that falls on the 13th of the month, realize its occurrence is no more remarkable than Sunday the 15th. As human beings we intuitively apply meaning to patterns that, often, do not even exist.

The same line of thought applies to a Lottery. For example, I had heard exclamations of astonishment when the lottery numbers produce an uninterrupted numeric sequence (e.g. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34). The remarks are along the lines, “WOW! That is simply amazing! How often does that occur?!”

Well, statistically that occurs equally to ANY other set of numbers. But, as human beings we apply significance to a [perceived] pattern. I believe our most ancient ancestors’ survival depended upon their ability to detect patterns. Recognizing the movement of the tall grass as different than what appears normally by the wind would prevent them from becoming unwitting prey.

Interestingly, there does not appear to be any year (in the history of mankind) where Friday the 13th appeared more than THREE TIMES. And in both 2021 and 2022 it will occur ONLY ONCE a year.