Friday 13th: omens of bad and good luck

[snopes]

Henry Ford would have hated 2009, and not just because it's been a tough year to sell cars.

Ford, as the story goes, refused to do business on Friday the 13th, and this week marks the third time this year that the 13th will fall on a Friday - the most times it can happen in one year.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...TAM&SECTION=US

[Brad from Georgia]

Friday the Thirteenth useta freak out my ole friend Churchy la Femme so much he looked for them on the other days o' the week.

Brad "Friday the Thirteenth comes on a Wen'sday this week" from Georgia

[lynnejanet]

My Grade 7 & 8 students are doing a triscadecaphobia presentation today for the younger kids. They've written up some little skits about weird and unusual phobia. Should be fun!

[Auntie Witch]

Originally Posted by lynnejanet

My Grade 7 & 8 students are doing a triscadecaphobia presentation today for the younger kids. They've written up some little skits about weird and unusual phobia. Should be fun!

That is totally awesome!

Some insane person in our district (no, not me) scheduled a trip to the Circus for today.

[Mycroft]

I do know someone who in one job was given every Friday 13th off as he did tend to have accidents on that day.

[AnglRdr]

I usually have good Friday the 13ths.

This one appears to be trying very hard to make an exception to that rule.

[RichL]

I have noticed that flights are quite light this day. I was checking fight loads, and it seems people do not like to fly on Friday the 13th. Fridays most flights are over booked, today I see flights with over 70 seats open. Now tomorrow, most flights all booked.

[purpleiguana]

I never really notice Friday the 13ths because I'm not in the least superstitious. Wouldn't have even made the connection this month except for this thread. Although... back when I got into that nasty car crash 2 Junes ago, it did actually happen to be a Friday the 13th. Total coincidence, of course. Friday the 13th tends to pass unobstructed.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

As for most things like this. The superstitious people tend to count the bad thing that happen to them, forgetting to count the good things.

I know I have had bad Friday the 13th and I can remember noting that some were very good. Since I do not associate days of the week with the dates (even that one), I can not recall what was bad or good about that particular day. I do remember things like look at the calendar at the end of a partiulary good day and thinking "so much for it being Friday the 13th" a few times.

[Die Capacitrix]

I'm not a fan of the movies, but Friday the 13th is my favorite day. Want: For him it is hardly ever TGIF

In past years I have heard a lot of people express anxiety about the date, but not today. As a Friday the 13th baby, I find it rather annoying that people think such a day is unlucky.

[snopes]

If Friday the 13th is unlucky, then 2009 has been an unusually unlucky year. But your luck is about to change. Today is the last of three Friday the 13ths you'll have to endure this year.

The other two were in February and March. Such a rare triple-threat occurs only once every 11 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...sabouttochange

[Ieuan ab Arthur]

Hi All:

Many years ago (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), I was a Computer Science TA at the University of Toronto. One of my jobs was to review material taught in class and to mark the computer programs submitted by the students in my teaching section. One assignment was due on Friday, the 13th. I made some weak joke to my section the week prior about not accepting triscadecaphobia as a valid reason not to hand in the assignment.

The following week, I received a number of assignments addressed to Mr. Triscadecaphobia.

And thus on Friday, the 13th, Ieuan learned not to use big words around Frosh.

Ta ra 'wan,

Ieuan "Frosh ideas" ab Arthur

[Singing in the Drizzle]

Originally Posted by snopes

The other two were in February and March. Such a rare triple-threat occurs only once every 11 years.

I do not know were they got this fact, but it is not right. Any non leap year that begins on a Friday with have 3 Friday the 13th the second week of the months of Feb., Mar. and Nov. Leap Years starting on a Sunday will have 3 Friday the 13th as well but in the month of Jan., Apr. and July.

Year start days follow a 28 years cycle. The next 3 Friday the 13th year will be the leap year 2012, followed by a non leap year on on 2015. Then there a 11 year wait for the next one in 2026 and another 11 years again until 2037. Then the cycle repeats again. Then there are those 100 year leap years that add an extra leap year in the cycle and could add 5th one in.

There are 48 Friday the 13th in a typical 28 year cycle. The 13th fall 48 time on the other weeks days as well in the same 28 year cycle.

[Xia]

My lucky number is 13 and Friday is the start of the weekend for me so I love it!

[compass]

Originally Posted by Singing in the Drizzle

There are 48 Friday the 13th in a typical 28 year cycle. The 13th fall 48 time on the other weeks days as well in the same 28 year cycle.

From my probability lecture notes;

Our calendar has a 400-year cycle. B. H. Brown noticed that the number of
times the thirteenth of the month falls on each of the days of the week in the
4800 months of a cycle is as follows:
Sunday 687
Monday 685
Tuesday 685
Wednesday 687
Thursday 684
Friday 688
Saturday 684
From this he deduced that the thirteenth was more likely to fall on Friday
than on any other day.

[boogers]

I was born on Friday the 13th. I'm still trying to decide whether that was a good or bad thing.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by RichL

I have noticed that flights are quite light this day. I was checking fight loads, and it seems people do not like to fly on Friday the 13th. Fridays most flights are over booked, today I see flights with over 70 seats open. Now tomorrow, most flights all booked.

I flew last Friday, and I'm still here. I also sat in row "14", but since this particular airplane skipped row 13, I was actually sitting in the 13th row! Talk about tempting fate.

For my Jetblue flight this Christmas, I actually am sitting in row 13. Since I'll be in an aisle seat just two rows away from the emergency exits, that's actually one of the safer seats on the plane.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

I had a average day for Friday the 13th. Nothing notably bad or good happen. It was a little colder and wetter than normal, but those types of days are not that unusual around here this time of year.

[PuzzlePieces]

I spent the night of Friday the 13th throwing up, so I am not a fan of the day.

However I suspect that was more to do with alcoholic spirits than spooky friday 13th type ones.

[Not_Done_Living]

the only time i purchase lottery tickets is on Friday the 13th, for a draw held that night, and i purchase 13 rows of quick picks.

This used to cost me $13 .. but apparently they jacked the price on the tickets from $1 to $2.. so now it costs me $26.