# Atheists: What superstitions do you still practice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767 "2012-08-07T18:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/41 "2012-08-10T11:17:06Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > As for my superstition, it’s a really weird and specific one. No matter how inviting an empty wheelchair looks, I won’t even sit in one even for a second for the possibility that I’d be inviting one on me for the rest of my life. I was at a party where a drunk guy was wheeling around in someone else’s wheelchair. He tried to pop a wheelie and ended up going over backwards, hitting his head on the brick patio. He was out cold for a few long seconds, then came to and declined an ambulance. Pretty much ended the party. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/42 "2012-08-10T11:25:04Z")
Goat mouth, which isn’t even slang I grew up with and apparently has many different meanings according to the internet. The meaning I was thinking of was. > [@](#): > > thats when my goat mouth kicked in in Trinidad they say you have goat mouth when if you say like don’t do that you’ll cut yourself and two minutes after you cut yourself then they say you have goat mouth don’t know where that came from but that was my experience that night every time I say something it happened [http://smallislandgirl.blogspot.com/2005/08/goat-mouth.html](http://smallislandgirl.blogspot.com/2005/08/goat-mouth.html) Whenever you hear someone say something like “what if I accidentally eat a piece of eggshell and then it cuts through my intestines and I get infected and die?!” I want to say shut up with the goat mouth! Damn you are going to bring it on! ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/43 "2012-08-10T14:51:27Z")
I do occasionally hold my breath going past a graveyard. I also lift my feet when going over train tracks. There was a bridge by my house growing up that went over this big river and on either side of the river were railroad tracks. Each time we went over it I would lift my feet. I eventually thought “this is ridiculous” but now when I visit home I do it just for fun as a “awww childhood” kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/44 "2012-08-10T15:58:18Z")
Don’t wash the jersey if the team is winning. You might want to think it was Eli Manning’s clutch efforts, the breakout performances by the receiving crew, the stifling defense or the brilliant coaching that got the New York Giants the Lombardi Trophy last season – but you’d be wrong. That championship is due to the efforts of one man and one man only: me. My JPP jersey, worn each week without washing during the title run, is all the proof anyone should need. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/45 "2012-08-10T16:09:12Z")
I have to put on my right shoe before my left one. No idea why but something horrible will happen if I don’t. Every time I pull into our driveway after being out, I say “yay” to celebrate the fact that I/we were not creamed by a semi, shot, had our faces eaten off, or other typical events that happen when one goes out into the world now. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/46 "2012-08-10T22:07:59Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I was taught to hold my breath when driving past a graveyard by a childhood friend. Took me _years_ to break that particular habit. Yeah, I do that, too. Although it’s less about the fear of inhaling death vapor than the challenge of seeing if I can get past the cemetery on one held breath. On the other hand, I don’t have any problem at all with saying “Bless you” or “God bless”. I doubt even hard-core evangelicals hear those as anything more than simple courtesies, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/47 "2012-08-11T04:03:36Z")
I avoid stepping on pavement cracks. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/48 "2012-08-11T04:10:36Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > It probably would be fine to just throw it in a hole and cover it up, though I’ve heard that some bad gasses escape from graves dug that way occasionally. Honestly in the long run you’re probably right, cremation would likely be better for the environment. We’d need less land for grave real estate, less wood for coffins, etc. It’s probably rooted in superstition, but it’s a bit difficult to tell where the line between superstition and tradition is. Cremation seems the obvious solution. No need for embalming, either. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/49 "2012-08-11T04:11:54Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > :rolleyes: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/50 "2012-08-11T05:00:00Z")
I still say Bless you after someone sneezes, because it’s just a meaningless social nicety and a habit. And besides, I really don’t wanna piss off Loki and Bartleby, just in case. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/51 "2012-08-11T10:48:50Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > 😕 you’re confused that I rolled my eyes at **Enke** l’s meritless retort? ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/52 "2012-08-11T17:11:57Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > you’re confused that I rolled my eyes at **Enke** l’s meritless retort? Yep. Looked to me like he was just agreeing with you and saying “oh, cool, I do that too!” Didn’t see any meritlessness OR retort. What are you seeing that I missed? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/53 "2012-08-11T20:25:26Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I have so many damn rituals. I know they aren’t anything but placebos, but hey - placebos do work!.. I’m a non-atheist, and we should be just as opposed to superstitions as “you folk”. Maybe moreso, because when we give in to a ritual we’re esentially saying “Hey, God, I don’t really trust you or the world full of natural laws you’ve invented…” And yet I always brush my teeth before an important football (“soccer”) match. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/54 "2012-08-12T01:48:28Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Yep. Looked to me like he was just agreeing with you and saying “oh, cool, I do that too!” Didn’t see any meritlessness OR retort. What are you seeing that I missed? Yeah, I’m curious too. I don’t understand the rolleyes. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/55 "2012-08-12T02:00:27Z")
As a die hard atheist I still always say the Sh’ma before a plane takes with myself or my family on it. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/56 "2012-08-12T02:13:12Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > As a die hard atheist I still always say the Sh’ma before a plane takes with myself or my family on it. What’s a Sh’ma? (honest question, I’d rather ask a person than ask Google.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/57 "2012-08-12T05:59:57Z")
I go along with traditions. Although there are many more, I can think of only two at the moment : -Don’t cross arms with someone else while clinking glasses. -Don’t give/ accept a knife as a present without giving back a symbolic amount of money (making it a sale rather than a gift). Also, you won’t get me to enter a cemetery at night (or do similar things). ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/58 "2012-08-12T06:10:41Z")
There are superstitions and there are rituals. Sometimes they work the same way–to focus your attention, or to relax you, or to get you revved up. I do try not to break mirrors. It may not be seven years of bad luck, but it’s some bad luck because it has to be cleaned up and I’m probably the one doing it. I never said “bless you” but “gesundheit” seems appropriate and, since it’s German, it sounds funny in response to a sneeze, which also sounds funny. Wait, I just realized I do have one, and it’s a strange one. When I was a kid whenever we’d see a truck with hay on it–which was almost always on vacations, for some reason–my mother would say, “Load of hay, load of hay, make a wish then look away.” I always wish to get home safely and then I work really hard not to look at the hay again, which is hard when it’s in front of you. I still do this, but silently. And I still always see these damn loads of hay. Where is all this damn hay going, anyhow? Also, when driving along the freeway, nobody in the car is allowed to comment on how well the traffic is moving, because to do so is to risk…gridlock! Yeah, I don’t fear gods or demons but I don’t have a lot of trust in other drivers, apparently. And staying focused is a good idea when you’re driving. Because they’re all out to get you! Or at least, delay you. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/59 "2012-08-12T14:30:49Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > …Also, when driving along the freeway, nobody in the car is allowed to comment on how well the traffic is moving, because to do so is to risk…gridlock! No one in the family knew that my wife had any superstitions, but near the end of a cross-country someone said “A whole week without bad traffic, and here we are breezing through Chicago!” “Don’t SAY that!” “Umm…mom, you serious?” “You’ll jinx it!” _[snip: discussion of why that’s silly, especially for Lutheran moms, but she just couldn’t give up a favorite superstition]_ So of course, I had to start jinxing up to eleven: “Y’know, we \*are \*pretty lucky we haven’t had a meteorite crash into the road in front of us…” And everyone but Mom would flinch, acting like we’re ready for the imminent impact. The kids got very creative with the mundane (a cab full of terrorists cutting us off) to the absurd (pirate ship jack-knifing on I-94). ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767/60 "2012-08-12T14:33:13Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > What’s a Sh’ma? (honest question, I’d rather ask a person than ask Google.) Sorry- central and most significant Jewish prayer: Hear O Israel, the lord our G-D the lord is one. Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai eluhanu, Adonai echad. (echad is Hebrew for ‘one’). It’s what proclaimed Judaism as a monotheism back in the day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-what-superstitions-do-you-still-practice/630767.md?page=4)