Friday the 13th ~ Tempting Fate May 13, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Music & Dance.trackback
I’m a fan of Friday the 13th . . . THIRTEEN being my LUCKY number.
Others don’t share my sentiments.
Friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga-triska-ideka-phobia) is a phobia of Friday the 13th.
So is paraskevidekatriaphobia (Para-skevi-deka-tria-phobia).
Those are some scary looking words, especially for a phobia that occurs only a few times a year ~ between 1 and 3 times).
If you suffer from increased anxiety and fear whenever Friday the 13th is near, there is a cure:
At the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center, the Treatment Nurse will thoughtfully guide Friggatriskaidekaphobes through an obstacle course that includes walking under a ladder, stepping on a crack, trashing zodiac signs, throwing darts at photographs, dancing inside with an open umbrella, and breaking a mirror.
How does that help?
My theory: after violating all those other superstitious taboos . . . people forget about Friday the 13th altogether.
But it’s not just a laughing matter:
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day.
Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed.
It’s been estimated that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day. [Source: Wikipedia, Friday the 13th]
So, how are we tempting fate today?
We are about to disconnect the computer from all its various and sundry components and tidy everything up a bit because the printer started misbehaving yesterday.
If all goes according to plan, I’ll be back . . . wish me luck!
In the meantime, here’s Stevie Wonder with . . . Superstition:
Related posts: Friday 13th (Little Miss Everything) * Lucky For Some (Tinman) * Granny & Friday the 13th * Friday, prolly a gazillion posts about this (Patricia ~ today I think) * SPOOKY: Last Post = DCLXVI (666)
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Spirit Lights The Way 
I’m not at all superstitious but I know some people have very real fears. I read once there are no Chinese homes with the equivalent number to our thirteen.
And many skyscrapers skip Floor #13.
BTW: I’m Back! Computer is hooked up again. And clean. Still no printer. 😦
Yeah, nothing like Stevie to get my blood pumping! This was interesting Nancy as I had no idea that some people are so affected.
Phobias can be quite paralyzing. The only thing that would make me hide inside all day every day . . . a profusion of snakes right outside my front door. Ack!
An enjoyable read!
Thanks, Cecelia. Due to time constraints, I “cheated” a bit and doctored up a post from Friday the 13th (August 2010).
Doesn’t phase me at all ;p
Good for you. It pays to be sensible and not get caught up in fear-based superstitions ~ especially of the paralyzing type.
That said, I enjoy having positive superstitions and lucky numbers. 😉
Friday the 13th is just like any other day, Wednesday the 4th. However, I have heard that people really do fear superstitions like that…take my mother with someone opening an umbrella in the house…whew we won’t even go there!!!!
The biggest problem with opening umbrellas inside . . . some of them won’t fit through the door! 😀
Haha great minds think alike! Rare to find someone who’s lucky number is 13, proud to stand out in the crowd!
After posting this, I scanned the “new posts” crowding my in-box and saw “Friday the 13th” . . . clicked and saw it was yours. Go you!
Now that my computer is back up and running, I shall be around in short order to read your post.
Happy Friday the 13th! 😎
I’m just disappointed that Paramount pictures missed this opportunity to release a 13th installment of the Friday the 13th franchise, one of my neverending list of guilty pleasures.
I have never watched any of the Friday the 13th movies . . . too grisly for me.
Maybe you can watch one of the earlier releases to “celebrate” life’s guilty pleasures?
I have a soft spot for movies filmed in New Jersey
I had forgotten that’s where they were filmed.
Have you seen Clerks? There’s some footage in it from Rt. 35 in Middletown ~ less than 1/2 a mile from where BFF grew up.
Have I seen Clerks.
P’shaw
I feel appropriately chastised for asking such an inane question. Quel idiote!
I’m not really superstitious and wouldn’t even have realized that today was Friday the 13th if I hadn’t read your post!
I wanted to do a quick post this morning before pulling apart my computer . . . glanced at the calendar, saw the date, and smiled when I saw the date.
I’m not really superstitious either . . . I’m an optimist always looking for good luck and omens, not bad.
I’m not superstitious, she says. Touching wood
Never hurts to be on the “safe side.” 😀
well it is Friday 13th
The only Friday the 13th in 2011. Let’s make the most of it. 😉
I held my last final of the semester and submitted grades. Then I mailed a contract for my novella that’s going to be an e-book soon. Afterward, I got a hamburger.
It’s been a good day so far, in other words.
Congrats on taking that “next step” to mail in the contract for your soon-to-be e-book! That’s exciting.
And you submitted grades! Truly a red letter day! 😀
I played the 1-6-8 tonight, so we’ll see.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Carl. 😀
In college, I lived on the fourth floor of the dorm and I was walking down the row one day and realized… there was no room number 413. It made me want to visit all the other dorms to see if every room number ending in 13 had been left out.
But I’m not really superstitious. Black cats have crossed my path plenty of times and nothing’s happened. 😀
Isn’t it amazing how pervasive a superstition can be . . . even being incorporated into architecture.
We rescued a pure black cat once . . . we called him Buddha. 😀
Me too!!! I don’t think I’ve ever found anyone else that considers 13 their lucky number!
And you’re comment #13! Whoot!
LOL – now that IS funny!
I wish I had a prize to give you for being 13th on the 13th. 😀
I’ll manage without a prize! I got through the 13th unscathed – perhaps that was my prize?
I have far too many other things to worry about 🙂
Go you! 😉
I think Friday the 13th and the number 13 has just been over exaggerated. The last time I stayed at a hotel, our room was on the 13th floor…room #1351 and I didn’t even notice until the next day when I saw the elevator didn’t have a 1st floor button cause they started on 2….which meant we were really on the 12th and the 14th would be the 13th!
Why leave out numbers? Just because something isn’t labeled the 13th floor doesn’t mean there isn’t one?!
Are people so crazy to think if the floor isn’t labeled 13 that there really is no floor 13? This drives me crazy!
But anyways, Friday the 13th is just like any other day and if you think of it that way, before you know it it’s the 14th and nothing bad happened!
PLUS my husband was born on Friday the 13th! 🙂 That’s good luck to me!
Another lucky 13 person! Yay!
I knew some other lovers of #13 would appear on the scene!
Go 13!
You will be fine… WhatI find amazing is the incredibly long names for a fear of a number… LOL! 🙂
Eliz
Very true now you make me think about it! Bit like Arachnophobia for tiny spiders!
Even without the “phobia” tacked on to the end, it’s a tongue twister . . . and a word I would hate to be given in a spelling bee!
I’m more afraid of the long words that mean fear of the 13th! LOL
Me too!
I decided a long time ago that every Friday the 13th would be “opposite day”… Opposite everything that represents superstitions, evil and bad luck… Works for me… Today was a great day ;-D
Yay! Glad you had a wonderful day. We did too.
Wow Nancy, you posted the same youtube link as I did on my FB page on Friday the 13th. How funny. Love 13, it’s a lucky one for me too 🙂
How did I miss that? I’ll be around straight away.
Looks like more of us like it than fear it! Go 13!
I went looking on Sinister Echoes for a Friday the 13th post . . . then came back and realized you said FB.
Now I know how I missed it. I’m seldom on FB for more than a few minutes at a time.
Glad you enjoy Friday the 13th and view it as LUCKY.
Nancy, you made me laugh out loud. A centre with an unlucky obstacle course? Felix and I would be the first in the line on the morning of every Friday 13th, just for the sheer blast 😀
Thought this post might appeal to Felix given his love of #13. 😀