Friday the 13

[jane-e]

Newsweek says twenty million Americans are afraid of Friday the 13 (today) and the news station on the radio also had a story about people who won't fly, or go to work, or even leave the house on Friday the 13.

Who’s Afraid of Friday the Thirteenth? Good Luck With That

So I am wondering...

...do you do anything to be cautious or keep yourself safe on Friday the 13?

[cmgap]

Weird as it may be I love the number 13 and have always wondered why people are afraid of Friday the 13th. Surely with all of the catastrophic events happening on insignificant dates it isn't rational.

[pziecina]

cmgap  wrote

Weird as it may be I love the number 13 and have always wondered why people are afraid of Friday the 13th. 

The reason Friday the 13th became famous was because that was the date and day that Philip IV of france ordered, and carried out the killings of the Knights Templar in 1307.

Unlucky for them at least.

[hans-g.]

Hello,

well, what should I say to this? I was born I on a 13. and, in this respect, it is easy to understand that my wife too was born on a 13! Some of you may regard this as a real disaster, I certainly do not! And this for almost 30 years! Or had we just been lucky, only exceptional?

Hans-Günter

[Bob_Howes]

My wife swears that Friday the 13th is a lucky date.  Then we do live upside down in Australia.

However, I have to say the yesterday was neither lucky or unlucky.  More of a nothing day!

[hans-g.]

Hi Bob,

in accordance with your wife and contrary to you: yesterday I got a few days vacation from the family. So some would say 13. was a lucky day for me.

Hans-Günter

[Bob_Howes]

LOL...I'll be sure to tell my wife!

[Peru Bob]

I don't do anything differently, but I do remember a Friday the 13th many years back because I was in a car accident that day and exactly one week later was hit again in the same vehicle.  Fortunately, there were no injuries in either accident and the other driver was at fault and ticketed in both cases.  The second driver's insurance even paid for a rental vehicle for me while mine was in the shop for repairs.

Oh, and it was my brother's birthday that Friday the 13th, too.

[sgibbonscreative]

At least you weren't hit by the same car twice... Would have had me seriously questioning the cosmos.

[John T Smith]

No problem here... have already been out grocery shopping (Friday specials at Safeway) and someone due in about an hour to (hopefully) buy some duplicate tools I put on Craigslist (wife and I combined garages AND moved into a new house with less combined space, so selling the extras) and then later I go to Home Depot to get some building supplies... and I don't expect any problems at all

[Nancy OShea]

I'm not superstitious but my mom always claimed that bad things happened to her on Friday the 13th.  We didn't put much stock into it until this happened.

One Friday the 13th my mom was driving home from the store when her car was suddenly broad sided by a driver-less vehicle.   Evidently, the phantom car had been parked on blocks for 6 months while the owner was making repairs to it.  On that fateful day however, the parking break slipped, the car rolled off its blocks, down an alley and onto the street at the precise moment she was passing by.  Weird, huh?

[John T Smith]

Did the owner give the car a name?

aka Christine (1983) - IMDb

[Nancy OShea]

LOL.  I think he got rid of it after that.

[JR Boulay]

I am not superstitious… Because it brings misfortune.

[cmgap]

Indeed JR!

[Brad Lawryk]

I love 13! It's always been my number in sports I have played and to this day is my favourite number.

[Nancy OShea]

It's not the number alone is it?

Nobody gets excited about Monday the 13th which occurs roughly as many times per year as Friday the 13th.

[Brad Lawryk]

The number has a lot to do with it. Many apartment buildings, hotels, and office buildings don't have a 13th floor for example. Some stadiums, arenas and theatres don't have a seat number 13. Some aircraft don't have a row 13.

It's an odd number .... pun intended. 😉

[Brad Lawryk]

As an interesting side note just looking up some stuff on the number. Yesterday, Friday the 13th there were 13 flights cancelled at Toronto Pearson Airport.

[Michael J. Hoffman]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Brad+Lawryk  wrote

The number has a lot to do with it. Many apartment buildings, hotels, and office buildings don't have a 13th floor for example. Some stadiums, arenas and theatres don't have a seat number 13. Some aircraft don't have a row 13.

Did you know, in China, it’s the number 4. You won’t find a 4th floor in many hotels in China, for example. I’ve been told (haven’t fact-checked) that the word or maybe the character for “four” is almost the same as the character or word for “death.”

Mike

[hans-g.]

Hi,

what concerns the "bad" number four, I found this German written article (Google Translate could be your friend 😞

Zahlen in China: 4 – So wird die Unglückszahl zum Glücksbringer – Shaoshi in Shanghai

what means something like "Numbers in China: 4 - Thus an unlucky number becomes lucky".

"denn 四 (sì) für „4“ klingt fast so wie 死 (sǐ) für „sterben“." >>> "because 四 (sì) for" 4 "sounds almost like 死 (sǐ) for" die "."

Hans-Günter

[JR Boulay]

In France you can find floors, seats, rows, etc. numbered from 1 to n without missing any number, otherwise it would fall within the competence of the police to combat fraud.

[jane-e]

Hahaha, I checked in for my flight to Adobe MAX and United does not have a Row 13!

[Nancy OShea]

They don't have a row 6 either . 

[Trevor.Dennis]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Nancy+OShea  wrote

They don't have a row 6 either . 

Blimey.  That's another unlucky number to worry about.