Friday the 13th

Last Friday, when I got up in morning, my husband Boris was already up and reading the news. The first thing he told me was "Today is truly Friday the 13th for 50 people." He meant the airplane crash that happened in Buffalo, N. Y. When I went to work the first thing that one of the nurses on the floor asked me was, "Are people in Bulgaria superstitious about Friday the 13th?"

The plane in flames after crashing into a private home in Clarence Center.

Of course, people are just as superstitious in Bulgaria as they are here and everywhere else in the world, but this question provoked the following thought: really, why is Friday the 13th supposedly unlucky? Where are the roots of this superstition? I still remember the last time when we had to buy airplane tickets. The tickets we chose happened to be on the 13th (Saturday). I argued with Boris not to pick this date, being a little bit superstitious myself. But Boris opposed me. "Do you know how many airplanes are in the air on each 13th day of each month? What is this fear of yours?" What could I possibly say? He was right.

It is believed the combination of the date 13 and the day Friday is very unlucky (it happens 1 to 3 times a year). I was interested to learn more about this popular superstition, so I went online to look for some information. Of course, there was a lot of it. For example, numerous of hotels and hospitals don't have rooms under the number of 13, and many skyscrapers don't have a 13th floor. Also, people avoid to fly on that date, and some even avoid going to work. This was all very interesting, but I still wanted to know more about the roots of the superstition. There were lots of different theories, most of them with biblical roots. The one I liked the best was one which related to the last days of Jesus's life on earth. For instance, there were 13 people (12 and Jesus himself) present at the Last Supper and Jesus was crucified on a Friday (Good Friday). The importance of both the 13th date and Friday have come to be viewed as unlucky. Without a doubt this started many years ago and will play an important role in some people's lives for the years to come.

DID YOU KNOW??

1) 8-15% of Americans take Friday the 13th into account when making plans.
2) Each Friday the 13th costs America an estimated $750 million in lost business because of superstitious people who chose to stay at home.
3) The U.S. Navy refuses to launch ships on any Friday the 13th.