# Are you superstitious? If so, what about? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724 "2004-01-05T00:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/1 "2004-01-05T00:35:00Z")
You’ve heard silly ones… Don’t let a black cat cross your path or that means death Break a mirror and get 7 years bad luck If your hand itches that means you will come into money Step on a crack and break your mother’s back Don’t walk under a ladder I am not superstitious, but I’m a litttle worried. I didn’t eat my hog jaws and Black-eyed peas on New Years which means I’m going to have a bad year. I ate it tonight. I wonder if that will cover me? Are you superstitious? ---
**Author:** ![Nvme77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nvme77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nvme77)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/2 "2004-01-05T00:42:09Z")
I try not to think about it, but I was raised a Catholic and I did not get my youngest children baptized. I think it means that they are easy pickens for the Devil or they will go to purgatory or something like that. My oldest son was baptized in the Episcopalian church , which is like diet Catholic, all the Catholic but none of the guilt. I also do not set my purse on the ground. To do so means you will never have money. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/3 "2004-01-05T00:49:09Z")
I’m not generally superstitious, but I do keep a special look-out on certain dates–anniversaries of previous events etc. Also I try to avoid being too optimisitic about uncertain outcomes–for some reason I believe that if you presume a positive event is going to happen it won’t. Example: Making preparations for starting the university of my choice before I’d been sent the acceptance letter would have been bad luck. Finally, regarding sports a tongue-in-cheek superstition I tend to follow is that “tempting fate” is a bad thing. UK Grand Prix fans will know about ‘Murray Walkers’. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/4 "2004-01-05T00:51:54Z")
No shoes on the bed at any time. I think it may be an Italian thing. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/5 "2004-01-05T01:03:07Z")
The whole knocking on wood to avert disaster… ie: I’ve never broken a bone _knock on wood or if no wood is around, my head_ I think that one is more of a habit than really believing… but I’m not going to stop just to tempt fate! My Grandma once told me one that if you sing at the table you’ll marry a crazy person… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/6 "2004-01-05T06:28:44Z")
A family superstition…the bigger or more expensive and elaborate the wedding, the worse the luck for the new couple. My uncle, for example, had a $30,000 [sic] wedding. The marriage lasted less than a year. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/7 "2004-01-05T08:03:14Z")
If, after leaving the house, I realize I have forgotten something and need to go back in, I make sure to sit down and count to ten before leaving again (Polish tradition.) I’m not 100% clear on what’s supposed to happen if you don’t do this, but I still sit and count every time. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/8 "2004-01-05T08:43:11Z")
No I’m not, touch wood. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/9 "2004-01-05T08:51:07Z")
I never knocked on wood until I met the girl who became my best friend; I would say something and she’d MAKE me knock wood. She’s so superstitious about it that when her mother mentioned during a road trip that somebody “could have died,” she stopped the car and made her mother get out of the car and go knock on a roadside tree. None of the fake laminate wood on the interior of the car was good enough, apparently. So now I have a habit of doing it, even when she’s not around. I find it irritating that I do it, but now that I do it, I probably won’t stop. Other than that, no superstitions…although I do sometimes think it’s bad luck to look forward too much to something that hasn’t happened yet. But that’s more because I hate being disappointed than it is because I really believe I have control over it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/10 "2004-01-05T09:00:08Z")
Mighty Mighty Bosstones notwithstanding---- I try really hard not to walk under ladders. At Borders, where they have the running ladders in front of the bookshelves, I always push them aside, instead of scooting under them. I also throw salt over my shoulder when I spill it. When I was in College Theatre, whatever production I was in, I carried a candle. It was my own thing, from when I was on stage in the middle of a dreadfully emotional scene, and the stage lights went out. All of them. There were sounds of thunder outside, so I said, “That damn storm, I’ll go look for some candles,” exited right, and made some noise off stage, looking for a candle. After a moment, the lights came back on. After that, I made sure to have one around. Theatre people are the most suspicious lot on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/11 "2004-01-05T09:10:11Z")
I also knock on wood. I have no idea why, but every time I mention some good luck I may have had, I’ll go crazy unless I can find some wood to knock on. Low grade OCD, I guess ---
**Author:** ![zephyrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/35a633/32.png) [@zephyrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyrine)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/12 "2004-01-05T09:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nvme77 \* > \*\*I also do not set my purse on the ground. To do so means you will never have money. \*\* Aaaaaaaarrrrggghhh! So THAT’S why! Never, ever again, will I set my purse on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/13 "2004-01-05T09:25:57Z")
I sacrifice floppy disks to the computer gods to bring me good luck in fixing the damn things. I also never mention how nice the weather is or how good things are going to fool the evil sprites that are always listening nearby. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/14 "2004-01-05T11:15:28Z")
I’ve found something bad always happens when I peeing into the wind. ---
**Author:** ![RahRahMah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@RahRahMah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RahRahMah)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/15 "2004-01-05T11:45:46Z")
What am I superstitious about? EVERYTHING. I have ten thousand good luck charms precariously holding my luck in place right now. I fear if I do something with even that bit of ribbon that I keep in my wallet something TERRIBLE will happen. I always knock on wood, I avoid thirteens, black cats, breaking mirrors, look for four leaf clovers, never jinx myself, cross my fingers, hold my breath and lift my feet as needed through tunnels and railroad tracks and over bridges. I wish on stars, dandelion fluff, digital clocks (3:33 etc), folded chips, birthday cakes, wishbones. I dont step on graves, walk under ladders, leave hats on the bed, or kill spiders. I probably do much more but can’t even think of it right now. ---
**Author:** ![RahRahMah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@RahRahMah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RahRahMah)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/16 "2004-01-05T11:48:03Z")
I’d also like to add that I know I’m silly but I just can’t stop, lol. ---
**Author:** ![zephyrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/35a633/32.png) [@zephyrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyrine)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/17 "2004-01-05T11:49:09Z")
I have a small wooden cross. It’s normally hidden away in a drawer or something, but I ALWAYS know where it is, and I’ve had it for the past 20 years, through numerous moves and the loss of most of my belongings. I’m an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/18 "2004-01-05T12:01:59Z")
Only when it comes to sports on TV and it involves my favourite team/player. I find that if I watch the match live, my team/player almost never wins. So I always follow the matches live online. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/19 "2004-01-05T14:04:40Z")
I am wary of tempting fate, to the extent of avoiding looking forward to things (even if I already have the ticket for one my favourite movies in my pocket, I might yet be run over on the way to the cinema). For instance, I avoid talking about how I’ll enjoy a planned trip, that the weather outlook for tomorrow is good, … ---
**Author:** ![Shawn\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Shawn\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn_K)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724/20 "2004-01-05T15:12:17Z")
I always observe theatre traditions, especially ones specific to my high school theatre. I’m also a firm believer in “Bad Dress Rehearsal means a good show.” – Shawn K. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-superstitious-if-so-what-about/222724.md?page=2)