The Logic of Superstition Part II – The Good Luck

In my last post, The Logic of Superstition Part I - The Bad Luck, there were some of the bad luck superstitions that didn't make sense (to me anyway).  In this part II of II post on superstitions, I have to wonder about the "good luck" superstitions. 

Rain on your wedding

I remember attending the wedding of a close family friend.  As soon as Pachelbel’s Canon in D starts playing and the bride and her father line up at the top of the aisle, it began to pour. It was a summer Saturday and the doors of the church were open and we could hear the rain rapidly hitting the pavement.  A friend had uttered an empathetic “aw” about the rain and said “well, they say ‘if it rains on your wedding day it is good luck.’”  I would imagine this is the case because ten years later they are still married and have two wonderful children.

But I have had to think about this one.  Is it limited to just rain or could it be any precipitous event?  If it’s a winter wedding is snow or sleet just as lucky?  If it’s not the precipitation but an unfortunate or unanticipated event, then would the limo getting into a fender bender on the way to the church be considered lucky?  Or, what if all the guests are delayed by an hour because of a burst water pipe on the highway … certainly those unanticipated events must be better luck than that of a common rain.

Knock On Wood

"We're right on schedule, knock on wood."  Admittedly, this one I have a hard time understanding.  From what I understand, the phrase was originally "stomp wood" because way back in the day people would stomp on wooden floors for luck.  When houses moved to tile, carpet, or even linoleum; why didn't the phrase evolve along with it rather than the "wood" part of the phrase staying and the motion being moved to the hands?  Personally, I think "stomp tile" has a timeless quality to it.

That aside, I have to wonder there are acceptable levels of  wood types.  For example, is knocking on a piece of solid finished oak more lucky than an a piece of particle board? Also, if it's painted then does that qualify as wood? Technically, that's knocking paint.

Getting Pooped on by a Seagull

I couldn’t believe this one when I heard it.  At first, I thought it was someone joking around with me. But others have come forth and have told me the same thing: “getting pooped on by a seagull is good luck.” I wonder if this is applicable to cars because my car seems to be very lucky when I go to the beach.

Why is this limited to just sea gulls?  It seems equally plausible that a blue jay pooping on you would be just as lucky – maybe even luckier.  I have seen more sea gulls at the beach than I do blue jays in my back yard, so the chances of a blue jay happening are rarer and the luck would seem much more valuable.  And why is this just limited to sea gull poo?  It would stand to reason, the bigger the poo, the luckier it is.  I’ve never seen anyone stepping in dog, deer, or moose droppings and sincerely say “Goddamn that’s lucky!”

Admittedly I throw salt over my shoulders, don’t step on any cracks, and even have a lucky horse shoe.   I suppose I don’t really have a hard time believing; I probably just have a hard time understanding.  There are so many superstitions and old wives tales that it makes just as much sense to believe them in at face value as well as its reciprocal.  I’m also inclined to believe in the compounding of them. But who knows if the day will ever come.  If you see me get pooped on by a sea gull on my wedding day and it rains you know I’ll be playing the lottery very soon because there’s a good chance I can win … knock on wood.

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The Logic of Superstition Part I - The Bad Luck

"... Pythagoras was right: To find truths, we must invert"

- You Have More Than You Think by the Motley Fool

Regardless of the origins of many superstitions, many have made their way into our everyday culture and we take them at face value.  A black cat crosses your path is bad luck, walking under a ladder is bad luck, breaking a mirror is 7 years bad luck.  Then there are the good luck superstitions: Rain on your wedding day is good luck, knocking on wood to preserve you current luck, getting pooped on by a seagull is good luck. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a believer in rituals and superstitions – I wouldn’t be running my hands up and down either side of the slot machines after each spin hoping for the big payoff if I didn’t. But as they prove to not to improve my luck I begin to start mulling over the intensity of luck based on characteristics of the situation or even the plausibility of the inverse.  I have picked up a heads up penny many times only to have a bad day to follow – so I have to wonder.

The Black Cat Superstition

I’ve heard this one a lot, as you no doubt have.  So, is it good luck if a white cat crosses your path? If a black one crosses your path and its bad luck, certainly the opposite must be true.  What about a beige one, could it mean ordinary luck?  What about the size of the cat? Would degree of bad luck depend upon the size of the cat?  I would think so. If a panther crosses your path, I’d imagine you’re about to have a really bad day.

I also wonder why it’s isolated to just the cat - since the second layer to the superstition is the color.  So, if one’s path is crossed by a Black Labrador, would that be good luck? Or would it mean that it’s even worse luck than a small cat.  What about a black bear?  Like the panther, I would think that if a black bear crosses your path, the day is about to get a whole lot worse.

Lastly, what about the path - where does it end? Does one’s luck change the closer the animal is? If you’re traveling down the highway and a black cat that is not in your sight, crosses your path that would still constitute bad luck.  But you were unaware.

I suppose the next time I have a bad day, I’ll have to attribute it to a black cat a mile down the road.

Walking Under a Ladder.

This one I had a hard time with, but I still avoid walking under them so I don’t tempt the fates.  Without researching this, I suppose I could see the logic behind it.  Pre-hardhats or even pre-toolbelts, if you walked under a ladder you probably and regularly got conked on the head by some clumsy carpenter.  If walking under the ladder is bad luck, then climbing over one must be good luck.  I mean … the clumsy carpenter sure had better luck than the poor victim below.

Breaking a mirror - 7 years bad luck

When I was young, I accidentally broke my cousin’s make-up mirror.  I knew that meant 7 years bad luck.  That must have been the case because over the course of the following seven years, I did not win the lottery, marry a Victoria Secret's model, or even become super popular in high school. Now that I think of it, I suppose the bad luck fallout of that mirror lasted 12 years. Regardless, I started thinking that if I glued it back together, would that improve my luck?  I don’t mean that fractured, super glued, “back together” – I mean if I were a glass expert and was able to restore it to its original luster.

Furthermore, what about someone that works in mirror factory?  Imagine someone who builds mirrors for a living.  They make mirrors day in and day out; careful to not break them because it would hurt their profit margins (I suppose that alone would be bad luck).  So, if that person has never broken a mirror but constructs them they must have good luck.  That seems to be the case because as an entrepreneur they started up and are running a mirror manufacturing company.

There's still more to wonder about.

Until Next Time ...

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Vampires – Things I wonder

Admittedly, I know nothing about vampires.    I’ve seen Dracula with Keeanu Reeves and that Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt vampire movie in the 90s, but I have yet to embrace this decade’s vampire fervor.  So … no … I haven’t seen Twilight or even Vampires Suck.

Close friends, relatives, and work related acquaintances would probably agree that I’m a tad mysophobic. So, the rudimentary premise of sucking the blood from their victim raises some questions. I have to wonder if there are vampires that could be afraid of germs too.  In my mind, there would have to be.  They look like people (with some slight physical differences), communicate in human languages, and have some human behaviors.  It would stand to reason there would be that one vampire that carries around hand sanitizer or a wet nap applying it to people’s necks before biting in.

What about bloodborne pathogen campaigns? Some places, like schools, post S.T.D. information to educate people about the dangers of Chlamydia or Gonorrhea and to abstain or be careful who they are with … because if they sleep with someone; they sleep with every partner they had before that.  In my mind, that idea would extend to the Vampire/Human relationship.  Posters would be posted in hallways noting that they should be careful who bites them because you never know who their vampire partner has bitten before.

After pondering some of that, I've also asked myself the inverse: "what if they’re immune to these kinds of things?"  From what I am told there isn’t much that could kill a vampire - back in my day, the lore was a wooden stake through the heart.  So if these are beings that could occupy space, be touched, and perceived then why aren’t there more stories about some being captured and studied to determine longevity or what antibodies exist in their blood exist to fight off colds or even HIV. Additionally, this would lead to more stories about protests for vampire rights or anti-vampire medical testing.

So ... getting away from the germy side of my curiosity, I also wonder if different vampires have a palate for different blood types.  Like someone may prefer a Bordeaux to a Chardonnay, would a vampire prefer an AB positive to an O negative?  If so, is it also like wine where age is a determinant?  Could vampires potentially get suggestions from blood stewards?  Such as: "This is a bold, vintage 70 year old, O Negative."

I can't say that I really have the inclination to investigate the vampire phenom further.  But my ignorance on the matter has made for interesting conversations with friends and coworkers. I'm sure through our discussions I'll eventually find answers to these questions ...

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Dispelling the Tooth Fairy

Everyone has a moment in their life when childhood traditions are put to rest.  I vividly remember shopping with my parents around Christmas time.  My mother saw a small pinball machine on an endcap and placed it in the shopping cart.  I had asked her who she’s getting it for and she gave me the vague response: “family.”

Christmas Day rolled around.  My mother gave me box that was wrapped with a white paper with little photos of presents printed on it.  I tore it open with delight and saw that it was a small pinball machine.  I was not mad, did not enjoy it any less, and I didn’t call my mum a fibber.  It was a great present.  But at that moment, I looked at the box differently.  I realized that presents were no longer brought by ‘Santa’   - I was five years old.

The following year I would come to my next realization that there was no Tooth Fairy.

One morning my father was preparing to go to work.  It was about 5:30am and he had turned on the hallway light. The brightness of it shined into my room and woke me.  Winter was winding down and spring was slowly emerging. Groggy, I flipped onto my other side and looked outside.  The sun was starting to rise and a blue haze of the morning sky made its way into my window.

I could hear the engine of the car running (which my father turned on to warm up the car while he did other things around the house) and the heavy sound of his belt buckle hitting the closet door as he took it off the rack.  I shut my eyes tightly to try to fall asleep quicker.  The light switch clicked and bright light that shined into my room dimmed to darkness.  I rolled onto my back, eased the tightness of my eyelids, and began to drift into sleep again.

A few moments passed. The light switch clicked and the bright light filled the air; again half-waking me.  I hear the heavy feet of my father growing louder as he walked towards my room.  Shielded me from the light he then reached for my pillow and (anything but gingerly) lifted it - tumbling me over, face first, to the other side of my bed as he shoved money under the pillow.

He walked, heavy footed, out of the door way as I lifted my face from the other pillow. The bright light filled the room again. The sound of his heavy footsteps trudging down the hall began to fade.   The switch clicked and the light disappeared.  The front door opened and the house shook as it closed.  The car door opened and then shut.  The lock of the transmission sounded as he put it into gear and drove away.

I turned on the light, lifted my pillow, and was excited to have the dollar that was left behind – the most I had ever received from the “Tooth Fairy.” Maybe it was because he didn’t have change (I typically got a quarter).

By the age of 6, I've said good bye to two iconic traditions of my youth.

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