Be Afraid...Be VERY Afraid!

I'll bet that by the end of this paragraph you will know what this blog is about.  As I drove home today a black cat ran in front of my car (the score: Cat 1, Car 0 - the cat retains all 9 lives).  I got out of the car and stepped on a crack in the sidewalk - I immediately called my mother to make sure she was feeling all right.  She said she had a slight pain in her back but it was no big deal...whew!  I had to walk under a ladder I had left up on my house to try to repair the gutters from the ice damming (but let's not revisit that).  As I closed the front door I heard something break in the bathroom.  I went to investigate and the bathroom mirror was in a thousand pieces...lovely!  Then I turned around, kicked an umbrella, and it opened up.

I think you see where I'm going with this.  Superstitions!  And why, you may ask, have I chosen this topic when there are so many others?  Easy...this is the 13th blog I've written!  And today is March 13th!  So seeing as how 13 is everyone's favorite number I thought why not?  This one was somewhat painful to write because I actually had to do a little bit of research for this, rather than just depending on my warped sense of humor to get me through it.  You can be sure that this won't happen too often (the research part, not the warped sense of humor...that, for better or worse, is here to stay).

It is amazing just how many superstitions there are in the world.  Did you know that most hotels don't have a 13th floor? (And no, I'm not talking about the hotels with only 12 floors or less...silly rabbit!)  Or that there is no row 13 in an airplane?   Or that in the game of Cricket a game cannot end if the combined score for both teams is 13?  Okay, I made that one up...thought I'd let you know that so you don't spend the next half hour searching the Internet to verify it.  If I happen to be correct, though, do drop me a line or give me a ring on the telly to inform me of such (since we're speaking of Cricket, please re-read this sentence using a British accent to get the full effect).

They call it "triskaidekaphobia" - the fear of the number 13.  To me it sounds more like the fear of eating Triscuits while playing cards, but that's just me.  Did I mention that I actually invented Triscuits?  Back when I was just a wee lad (we're fast approaching St. Patrick's Day) I used to take Shredded Wheat, put salt on it and eat it.  Someone obviously stole my idea and made millions, and here I sit writing about the number 13.  There is no justice...apparently just bad luck!

Baseball is the most superstitious sport going.  Wade Boggs, who used to play for the Red Sox as well as that other team about 200 miles to the southwest of Boston, would eat chicken before every game - it seemed to work for him; not so much for the chicken.  Many players will not step on the foul line when going onto or off of the field.  Then there was the "Curse of the Bambino" which supposedly caused the Sox to not win a championship for 86 years (thank you 2004, with a special thumbs up to the Yankees!)  Announcers will not use the term "no-hitter" while a pitcher is in the midst of pitching a no-hitter for fear of jinxing the pitcher.  In the later innings players will not sit next to a pitcher for the same reason...it's either that or his deodorant stopped working.  So if superstitions are your thing, baseball is your sport.

Supposedly it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day.  This one was probably made up by a groom to calm down his bride that just spent a small fortune on a wedding dress that cannot get wet.  You would think a dress that costs close to six figures could be worn on a Jacques Cousteau Oceanographic Expedition without a problem but apparently not.  I don't think it rained on our wedding day, so what does that mean?  Let's see, we've been married for 33 years (34 in July...how's THAT for quick math!) but because it didn't rain on our wedding day we are teetering on the brink of the destruction of our marriage.  The good news?  Both my wife and I are oblivious to it so I guess we're okay!  Divorce was never an option anyway; in the early years we couldn't divorce because neither of us wanted custody of the kids.  Now, divorce would just cost too much. 

I'm not superstitious at all.  In fact, I can't even spell the word.  So how is it that I have written it many times in this blog?  Some things are best left unsaid my friend.  I have to go, but first let me make sure I have everything I need:  Rabbits Foot, check. Four Leaf Clover, check. Horseshoe, check. And in case you think writing this blog was easy, try typing with your fingers crossed the entire time!