Although it seems as though we just had a Friday the 13th, we’re already at another impasse with that fateful and (reputed) unlucky number.
Thankfully, if you’re reading this, you’ve hopefully survived the second Friday the 13th of the year unscathed. Believe it or not, there are three Friday the 13ths this year, each of which 13 weeks apart from one another. Crazy, huh?
Personally, I’m no stranger to the number 13. I don’t avoid it by any means, and in fact could argue that my life has been peppered with a string of milestones associated with the number 13… a verse read at my confirmation was from chapter 13 verse 13, in college I lived on floor 13 room 13…and it goes on. For a society that avoids this number at all costs, I certainly have no trouble finding it!
But I know a lot of people who get caught up in superstitions, and if it has anything to do with Stevie Wonder’s song Superstition they might be on to something. According to MSN the scientific name for someone with a fear of Friday the 13th is Triskaidekaphobia. I’ll leave my curiosity for the derivation of this word for another blog, but if that’s you: rest assured, you’re not the only one out there. Other famous figures reputed to be triskaidekaphobic included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover.
While there aren’t any hard numbers for how many estimated triskaidekaphobic individuals are out there, Smithsonian Magazine cites fear of the number 13 costs Americans a billion dollars per year in absenteeism, train and plane cancellations and reduced commerce on the 13th of the month.
If I were the number 13, I’d hire someone for some reputation management and a positive word of mouth campaign…but that’s just me.
