Strange Superstitions and The Superstitious Among Us

[nice hat dude!]

Well when cyanide is a by product of almonds I think I would be allergic also...just a thought

 

[Flicka]

Flicka, regards to that psychoanalyst of yours

Well, traditions aren't always rational. I mean, how rational is it to wear a tie? Or to celebrate Thanksgiving? How rational is religion? Art? Music? We all do a great many things that aren't rational as part of our culture and thank God for that. Otherwise we'd all probably live in plain concrete slabs and wear unisex one-pieces and behave like robots.

 

[Aerojoe]

how rational is it to wear a tie?

You have a point there. I hate ties. I always thought the same thing. Why in earth do I have to put this rag around my neck. It is irrational!

 

[richie1958]

As a seafarer, I tend to get dragged along with various superstitions. The important thing about living on a ship is to not annoy ones' shipmates. When you're living almost in each others' pockets, it makes sense to try and get along with everyone. So I NEVER whistle at sea, because some old sailors reckon that's how to whistle up a storm. I never mention rabbits... if the fluffy critters have to be referred to, we call them Wilfreds, or Wilfies. There's enough nautical superstitions to fill a book and although I don't believe in them, I have gone along with them for so long, I feel uncomfortable ignoring them.
Richie

 

[Metatron]

Merchant navy? I was always fascinated with the idea of doing that as a career.

My main superstition is that If something good happens, it is immediately followed by at least two bad things. That's seems to be how the dynamics of my luck pan out. [huh]

 

[-Max-]

I was thinking about this the other day. A friend of mine's brother's wife is extremely pregnant. In fact, if she didn't go into labor last Wednesday they're going to induce the pregnancy later on today. I was visiting their new apartment and I asked about the random lack of furniture. He's a Euro-American but she's Taiwanese, and the explanation involved not being able to move furniture out of a home where someone is pregnant, so everything they had at their new apartment came from a different place than their old apartment. He was dealing with it stoically.

My own superstition kicked in later when I was making my departure. I try not to give baby gifts until the child is at least a year old (except for the gift of a first book, which in my mind can never come too early), and I don't say congratulations until the child is born. I told her "good luck" instead, which may sound grim in plain writing like that, but I do try to inflect it to be a little more cheery. Wishing someone luck is also something I don't do lightly, as I need all the luck I can get and don't usually feel like I have enough to share.

When I was in the Army I knew a fellow who had a superstition about "splitting poles". To him, when a group of people is walking together, everyone has to walk on the same side of the pole. I didn't know this and threaded around a different direction as we passed one by while we were walking somewhere together. This caused him to get upset and go back and come around on my side again. I thought he was just messing with me, so I did it at the next pole we walked by just to make him go back and run around the pole again. He didn't think this was at all funny, and once I figured out he was serious I let it be.

 

[Espee]

Didn't look to see if anyone's mentioned the 1933 radio series "The Origin of Superstition."
Fifteen-minute shows. I've only heard one-- about bad luck if anyone whistles in a theater dressing room.