Friday the 13th – oh no!

Apologies for not posting anything about Vokhtah today but here in Australia it’s Friday the 13th already and I just couldn’t pretend that it was an ordinary Friday.

Please understand, I am not superstitious. I don’t throw salt over my should at the mere sight of a black cat – how could I when I live with two of them? And I’m quite happy to walk under ladders. I haven’t broken any mirrors lately but I’m pretty sure that even when I did the result was not 7 years of bad luck.

Nonetheless…

There’s just something about Friday the 13th that makes even cynics such as myself think twice about going ‘outside’. And that is really strange because this superstition is relatively new. According to Wiki, Friday the 13th has only been a bad day since the 1900’s. No-one is even sure why it’s meant to be a bad day.

Fridays have been considered unlucky for centuries and the number 13 also has a history of bad luck, at least according to numerology. Perhaps some bright spark just put the two together and the idea caught on.

But is there any factual truth to it?

The following is a quote, again from Wiki :

‘The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on June 12, 2008, stated that “fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday the 13th, at least in the Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500.”[17][18]’

Well, if the Dutch had 300 fewer road accidents on Friday the 13th then that must mean it’s safe to go shopping. It is raining though so perhaps I’ll keep researching for a while. In the interests of science of course.

Hmm.. Maybe I should have quit while I was ahead. I’ve just found something here that worries me.  Have a look at the chart below :

This chart is taken from a real research article that looked at road accidents statistics between 1989 – 2002.

The researchers concluded that women did not have more accidents on Friday the 13th. However take a look at the results for males. Even without my reading glasses I can see a definite spike centred over Friday the 13th.

They say you can prove anything with statistics and it seems that ‘they’ were correct. Still, I am a woman so I should be safe either way… right?

p.s. If you’re a guy and you’re reading this TAKE CARE! Just in case. You know…

Advertisements