Lucky Number 13

I spent too much time waiting for a doctor's appointment this week. After leafing through the magazines from 2002, reading the medical posters on the wall, and checking out the chart of bone names, I was left with nothing to do but review the emergency exit map. This was a rather large practice with 19 patient exam rooms. Nope, make that 18 patient exam rooms--they skipped over room 13, sort of like a hotel with no thirteenth floor.

I never knew why the number 13 was supposed to bring bad luck. I've discovered that the Egyptians were the first to have a superstition about 13, but it was related to good luck. Ancient Egyptians believed there were 12 steps on the ladder to eternal life and knowledge and to take the thirteenth step meant walking into everlasting life.

According to their website, Colgate University was founded by "13 men with 13 dollars, 13 prayers, and 13 articles". (I'm not sure what sort of articles this refers to.) To this day, members of the Colgate community consider the number 13 a good omen.

So how do you feel about the number 13? Do you embrace it for its luck? Or go out of your way to avoid it?

Need More Luck? Get the Poop!

I posted a month or so ago about the superstition of having monkeys in your house bringing bad luck. Today I want to pass along a few superstitions I've collected about things that are supposed to bring good luck.

I've been told that in The Netherlands, folks believe if a bird poops on your head you'll have good luck. I have a very distinct memory of taking a couple of dozen Girl Scouts to Washington, D.C., waiting on a bench below a nice, shady tree while the girls investigated the bazillionth gift shop of the trip, whereupon a bird blessed me with good luck wishes. I did not have any notable good luck the rest of the trip, unless you count the fact that I survived to tell about it. Maybe I should have taken them to The Netherlands?

I've also been told that folks in Belgium believe that if you step in dog poop with your left foot, you'll have good luck. What does it mean if you step in it with your right foot? It just means you have a stinky shoe. Assuming you were wearing shoes. I am so not gonna test this one, in Belgium or anywhere else.

No Monkeys in the House

In the interest of making every day my lucky day, I've been doing some research into superstitions about luck. Some of them are truly funny--I'll save them for future posts--and some of them are truly interesting. One of them, however, has me totally confused. Apparently in Brunei it is widely considered to be bad luck to have monkeys in your house. What I can't find, though, is whether this applies to only live monkeys--which pretty much makes sense to me--or if it also applies to images of monkeys. Are stuffed toy monkeys okay? And what about sock monkeys? Monkey-patterned blankets? Do we need to completely redecorate? (Just kidding, I don't think we have a single monkey-related item here.) Is it safe to wear jewelry with images of monkeys? Apart from possible damage to your stuff, why is it bad luck to have monkeys in your house? Does this superstition carry over to other countries, or is it only in Brunei? I have so many questions that I can't answer, and I'm hoping that at least one of you can help clue me in.