Working Wives & Bachelorettes: Are You Feeling Lucky?

Cue the Jason music. I’m not a superstitious person but when things don’t go the way I hope I tend to blame it on my “bad luck”. Interestingly enough, only around 10 percent of Americans believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, yet it is still a well-recognized superstition, causing people to joke about it and be perhaps a little more cautious than usual. This year, Friday the thirteenth falls on January 13, April 13 and July 13.

Thanks to our ancestors this date has worried some of us for no reason at all, or is there a reason? What is the origin of this day? According to folklore, 12 Norse gods were having an awesome meal in their heaven. They were drinking, eating and partying when, low and behold, Loki the mischievous appears. He apparently set out for the god Balder (the god of all things wonderful and cool) to be shot in the face with a mistletoe tipped arrow by the blind god of darkness, Hoder...who's blind...and the assassin. (Really? How does that work?) Anyway, Somehow Hoder gets past his crippling loss of sight and shoots Balder with his mistletoe arrow. Balder dies and the whole wide world becomes a dark, sad, and unlucky day every Friday the 13th.

Wow, some story. And great, all of this irrational fear is because of some blind god that shot another god with mistletoe. Way to go. I am not one to follow or believe in superstitions but I am not going to lie the thought of the end of the world does freak me out. I won’t get into my rant but as long as I don’t have to suffer, I will be able to deal with it.

In light of this day, I came across some fun facts that I thought I’d share with you. I am not sure if they are 100% the truth so don’t quote me on them. But, they are fun!

According to Smithsonian Magazine, “fear of the #13” costs Americans billions of dollars per year in absenteeism, train and plane cancellations, and reduced commerce on the 13th of the month.

The technical name for the fear of Friday the 13th is “Triskaidekaphobia”.

According to folklorists, there is no record of “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century.

Any month that begins on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th. There will always be at least one in every calendar year.

Many buildings have no 13th floor and many airplanes have no 13th row.

So can bad things be attributed to Friday the 13th or the number 13 in general, or is it just coincidence? You be the judge. Either way, today stay away from ladders and black cats, don’t break a mirror and carry around your lucky rabbit foot.