Today’s Friday the 13th – a day which, according to superstition, brings either good or bad luck. Sounds to me like most other days, then. But I think most people expect more bad luck than good, and so they fear it. Apparently 13’s an unlucky number and Friday’s an unlucky day, so Friday the 13th compounds the unluckiness. Wikipedia’s expose is wondrous: ‘The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (meaning fear). This is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia of the number thirteen, and is also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia’. Well I can’t argue with any of that. An estimated 17-21 million people in the USA suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia, some so severely they avoid doing business, flying, or even getting out of bed. It’s been estimated that in the US, US$800M is lost in business on this day. In some studies the motor crash rate falls on Friday the 13th; and in other studies it rises. Again, good luck or bad. In our (Gregorian) calendar, each year there’s at least one Friday the 13th. In 2009 there are three – in February, March and November. Me? I’m not superstitious. But today I’m being extra careful. Just in case.
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