We've been accusing Friday the 13th of being a bad luck day for centuries. Chaucer mentioned it as far back as the 14th century, but in the 17th century, Friday the 13th became widely referenced as a day when things went horribly wrong. People would put aside everything from daily household tasks to important medical decisions so that nothing could go wrong on Friday the 13th. And according to Wikipedia, some 17-21 million people are reported to experience a fear of this day. But is it really unlucky, or is it all superstition?
The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics reported in 2008 that there are fewer accidents and fires (or at least claims stemming from Friday the 13th), and explained this phenomenon as a result of people just being more careful due to the superstition. However, before that, in 1993, the British Medical Journal compared accidents on Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th and found that there were many more accidents on the 13th. My take? Much of this is probably spurious and besides that, you can find a statistic to support virtually anything you'd like to claim...so...it's hard to say.
All I can tell you is that for me, the only thing that's unlucky about Friday the 13th is that if I'm not out having dinner with Leo, my evening will surely be disrupted by TV channels that insist on showing scary movies...which I pretty much hate. I'm going with silly, annoying superstition on this one.
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