Plot Monkeys

The other day when I was walking into the house from our garage, I noticed that one of my daughters did a very strange thing (at least for her, LOL!). The door leading into the house from the garage is spring loaded so it will automatically close behind the person, and my daughter was right behind me. I had my hands full so I didn’t hold the door open for her, and the door started to close after me – but instead of my daughter pushing it back open for herself, she went to great pains NOT to touch the door at all and make sure she squeezed past before it closed, and as a result literally fell against the washing machine in the laundry room. I thought this was extremely odd since she only had her backpack slung over one shoulder and could have easily pushed the door back open with her free hand, but didn’t. So, I turned around and asked her what the heck happened, and she very sheepishly admitted that as she was walking behind me she’d made a little pact with herself that if she could make it inside the door behind me without the door touching her, or closing on her, then a certain “wish” would come true (which would explain why she’d crashed into the washing machine in her attempt to NOT let the door touch her in any way). Kind of like “step on a crack and break your mother’s back”, kind of thing.

Ooookaaaay, I thought, and of course I laughed. But the more I thought about what she said, the more I realized that even I’ve done that kind of thing before, too, or rather, there are certain superstitions I was taught growing up (either by siblings or friends, etc), that have always stuck with me. Some I follow, others I don’t. So, in a way, this was like her own personal superstition, and hey, I can respect that, LOL!

But it really got me thinking about superstitions in general, and how many of us really believe in that stuff – and how many of us adhere to a superstition because we truly believe it will affect the future, or the outcome of a certain situation.

I don’t consider myself a very superstitious person, but how many times have I found a penny on the ground and haven’t picked it up because it was “tails up”, thus would be bad luck if I did pick it up and keep it? Then there’s the superstition that bad things happen in threes, and knocking three times on wood after mentioning something good, because if you don’t, it may not happen! Or how about a black cat crossing your path, or walking under a ladder, or opening an umbrella in the house, all of which will curse you with bad luck. Who really knows if superstitions are really true . . . or are they more a matter of coincidence?

It’s an interesting question, and as I decided to write this blog and searched out the internet for various “superstitions”, I came across some that I’ve heard of, and others that made me laugh. Some are serious, and others downright silly. So, I decided to share some of them here, and see what you had to say about superstitions.

1) If you fasten a button into the wrong buttonhole, it’s bad luck. (I didn’t know this, but I’m sure I’ll remember it. Do I believe it’ll bring me bad luck? No, not really, because I’ve done it many times in the past with no bad results that I can remember!)

2) Breaking a mirror means 7 years of bad luck, unless you take the pieces outside and bury them in the moonlight. Also, if an undisturbed mirror in a house suddenly falls and shatters, then it means that there will soon be a death. (Yes, I’ve broken a mirror before and I didn’t bury it in the moonlight – I can’t say it brought me bad luck, either.)

3) If you go to the bathroom in the night with no clothes on, insects will fall on you. (Oh, this one had me laughing out loud, because it made me think of Leslie’s blog about going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and sitting on a frog! Leslie, were you naked at the time? Inquiring minds want to know! LOL!)

4) Watching someone else yawn makes you yawn. (I don’t think of this as a superstition, but I know it happens to me all the time!)

5) A yawn is a sign that danger is near. (Yeah, the danger of the person falling asleep! I mean, who really yawns when their life is in danger?)

5) If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff, you will get your wish. (I think all of us were taught that from our very first birthday! However, I’ve blown out all the candles on my cake with one puff, and my wish didn’t come true, so what does that say?)

6) Keep cats away from sleeping babies because they “suck the breath” from the child. (Okay, I’ve heard of this one before, but I’m not sure I believe it. However, if I had a cat when my girls were babies, I might have thought twice about letting it near my child while sleeping – just in case, LOL!)

7) Cut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches in the year to come. (Hmmm, I’m thinking Carly needs to try this one for her migraines!)

8) Spilling wine while proposing a toast means good luck. (So why wouldn’t you fill your glass so that you DO spill some wine for good luck?)

9) A bat flying in the house means bad luck. (Uh-oh, didn’t we have someone here that had a bat flying around in their house? Did it bring you bad luck?)

10) An itch inside your nose means bad luck. (What? Are they serious?)

11) If the palm of your right hand is itchy, then it foretells that money is coming to you, but don’t scratch it as that stops the money from coming! If it’s your left palm that is itchy, then scratch away, as that means you’ll soon be paying out money! (I always thought it was the other way around, that if your right hand was itchy you would be getting money, and if it was your left hand that was itchy you’d be paying out money. See, what do I know!)

12) Spilling salt. If both salt and pepper are spilled at the same time, the force of this ill omen is doubled. (So, does this mean you have to toss both salt AND pepper over your shoulder to break the spell?)

13) Ahh, the bad luck number 13. No 13th floor in hotels, Friday the 13th, etc. (I choose to believe that Friday the 13th is a GOOD day, since that’s when my oldest daughter was born.)

14) Dogs howling in the dark of night, howl for death before daylight. (If that’s the case, then me and my neighbors should be dropping like flies, because ONE of the neighbors has a dog that howls all night long!)

15) A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven. (I guess you get a free pass on that day!)

16) If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first. (Okay, so what happens when those same three people have their picture taken together more than once, and each time someone different is in the middle? Do they all die at the same time?)

17) If you believe in a superstition, it will always follow you! (See, that’s why I don’t take much stock in superstitions!).

Seriously, I do think if you believe in something enough, it will or can happen. Positive thoughts bring positive energy, and negative thoughts brings negative energy — that’s my way of thinking!

So, how many of you are superstitious and how many of you believe a lot of what happens (good luck or bad luck), is pure coincidence? And if I haven’t listed one of your superstitions above, go ahead and share it with us! We all need to be aware of these things!