Friday the 13th

According to About.com, there is a name for people with a morbid fear of Friday the 13^th.  The name is: paraskevidektriaphobics, a name for which I shall spend an eternity trying to locate a rhyming word so that I might write a poem.

Para-whutchacallit is also noteworthy in that the fear of Friday the 13^th is thought to be the most widespread superstition in these United States.   Somewhere near eight percent of the population is believed to be gripped by this fear.  I am merely happy that the figure is not thirteen percent.  That would be far too freaky for me.  That said, there does exist a certain weird numbers thing occurring in 2013—seems that we have two Fridays that fall on the 13^th this year: this one and one in December.  If you count the weeks, the two Fridays are thirteen weeks apart.

That is a lot of thirteens.

I know what you’re thinking…somewhere nearby a theatre is playing Friday the 13^th.   Maybe admission for two (plus soft-drinks and popcorn) will be thirteen bucks.  Maybe the theater is on Thirteenth Street and the show will start at 7:12 because 7:13 would be far too unlucky.

Now…what if it took you thirteen seconds to read the preceding paragraph?

According to Wikipedia, the Greeks and many Spanish-speaking countries consider Tuesday the 13^th unlucky.  Well, that is a little weird.  Tuesday is just another day of the week.

As a final note, I was born on Friday the 13^th.

Best of luck today…

--Mitchell Hegman