Lucky Thirteen

This is the 13th topic/post I'm blogging about, so of course I had to make it about 13.
If you're one of those people afraid of the number, you might want to leave now. If you haven't already.

For many people, the number 13 is unlucky. Or at least they believe it is. Personally I find 13 to be a lucky number. I was born on a Friday the 13th. Those days are really lucky for me. My best friend was also born on the 13th. Different month, and not sure if it was a Friday or not. So while many people out there fear and loathe the number, for me at least, it is lucky.

So here's my 13th post. Is it going to be lucky? Doubtful. It isn't going to make me win lotto or find the secret to eternal youth/beauty/etc. This post won't find me a job or pay off my mortgage. It certainly isn't going to fix anything wrong in my life. But it's the 13th post, and therefore, it is special. I've made it this far.

I should note that I'm also 13% of the way through my 101 in 1001 list. Perhaps there's something to this. Maybe something good will happen today. This non-13th day.
Yesterday was numerically a 13. (9+1+2+0+1+0=13). Perhaps I should have done this yesterday for that added kick? Too late now.

Anyway, the number 13 gets a lot of bad wrap. My wedding was on a Saturday, the 14th. I picked that day because it happened to be a New Moon, which is supposed to symbolize new beginnings. Of course, smart people realize the day before our wedding was a Friday the 13th. This was the day we had the 'rehersal dinner'. Nothing went wrong. Nothing blew up, nothing bad happened. We had a great time, played Munchkin until the early morning when we all rushed off to bed. Freddie didn't show up, Jason didn't crash the event. Nothing bad went down.

I honestly think that people create a lot of the ill-effects on a Friday the 13th. They expect something to go wrong, and so it does. They focus so much on the bad, that they find it. Look hard enough, long enough, you'll always find something. If most people just went about the day not knowing what it was, I bet a lot of people would wake up the next morning and find nothing had happened. Of course, bad things will still happen. But generally no more than any other day.

I recently watched 1408 with Mur and Dig. We talked about the play on 13 in that film. "Don't Enter 1408" has 13 letters/numbers if you don't count punctuation. 1+4+0+8= 13. the fact the hotel 'skipped' the 13th floor and went from 12 to 14 means it's technically still the 13th floor. And that brings me to the point. Why do hotels 'skip' the 13th floor? Really? Mislabeling something makes it not exist? If I mislabel my debt into profit does that mean I no longer have debt? If I mislabel a bill paid, does that mean I no longer owe the people? Seriously? Why didn't someone tell me this years ago. I'd be rich now. Oh, wait... probably because it doesn't work. Labeling floor 13 as floor 14 doesn't make it the 14th floor. It's still the 13th floor. Calling a cat a dog doesn't mean your allergies to cats go away.

And I wonder about these people who are afraid of the number 13. It's a real phobia. Triskaidekaphobia. Say that 13 times fast.

Now, I'm a fear of spiders. This means I will not go near a spider. I scream when I see a spider. And should one crawl on me, I damn near hyperventilate. So I have to wonder about these people with a fear of the number 13. Do they pass out at 1pm every day? (1pm is 1300 on a 24 hour clock, or military time).  How do they handle 13 minutes pass every hour? Do they froth at the mouth once a month, when it's the 13th? Do these people call in sick, lay in bed and not go anywhere? What happens if they get a phone number with 13 in it? Or if the have to go to an address with 13 in it? Do they have issues then?

How deep does this fear go? If they are given a sentence with 13 letters in it, do they panic? Do they do numerology for all dates, and suddenly 9/1/2010 is a day to be feared? Do they go so far as to have labor halted so they don't deliver a baby on the 13th, or at 13 past an hour? How deep does the phobia run?

Because honestly, me personally, I'd be dead if everything that has to do with a 13 had something to do with a spider. If the panic didn't kill me, the constant barrage of spiders would drive me to off myself simply to avoid the next onslaught. Not joke no lie.

And no, I'm not trying to make fun of Triskaidekaphobia or suicide. I honestly have no idea about the first and am dead serious about the second. If I had to deal with as many spiders daily as people deal with the number 13, I couldn't do it. That's how bad my fear of eight-legged-demon-spawn is.

Anyway, so 13 for me is a lucky number, and I'm actually glad it is. It was the day I was born, and so I don't fear the number 13.