Clap the fairies!

As I opened the web page up to start a blog about superstitions, I sneezed. How uninteresting you may think, but as my father said 'Bless you', I replied 'Thank-you...Clap the fairies (whispered)' and started clapping. I received an odd look from my dad unsuprisingly. I can't even remember why I started this compulsive clapping to rid myself of 'fairies', though I do seem to remember an old headteacher Mr Harrington explaining about a story that escapes me now about evil spirits causing the sneeze or something to that effect. This story was simply to illustrate the hold that superstitions have over people.

I wouldn't say I am super superstitious (see what I did there?), but out of habit I habitually jump into the road to avoid 3 drains, or walk over two and do an unusually big step to avoid the third. I blame that on someone I used to know, the psychological impact of being shoved violently to the side every 10 minutes because of the threat of 3 drains has evidently scarred me for life. I don't think I have any other superstitions; I open umbrellas wherever I like, I definitely won't be throwing salt around all over the place and ladders I only avoid due to the occupant falling on my head or the ladder itself. Thankfully I have never broken a mirror, and for some reason that would probably affect me!

I read a story a few weeks ago about how some aeroplanes are so serious about superstitions they now have rows 10, 11, 12, and 14, completely missing out 'unlucky number 13'. I understand flying for many people is scary enough, and supersititious people find the number 13 terrifying. Put those people on a flight from America on 9/11 with a seat in row 13 and I can't even begin to imagine their terror! I did see a sketch about this by a comedian saying something similar, and I agree with their logic that the people sitting in row 13 are not going to have the floor crumble and fall out of the plane, while the rest remain seated for the duration of the flight. One of my friends flew back from New York on 9/11 this year, and his brothers had researched how reasons why an attack could happen again due to 9/11 falling on a Holy Day for Muslims for the first time in so many years, trying to freak him out. I laughed, a lot, but I may have gone a bit crazy if that was me.

Just had a couple of thoughts on superstitions, as normal no real point to my blog as much of being superstitious is psychological and unfortunately it was not something my A Level psychology teachers deemed to teach us. Maybe it is linked to self-worth or insecurities we have with ourselves? All I know is that I am going to carry on with my OCD behaviours to avoid 'bad luck'.

Also, my Dictionary.com app on my iPhone has a great word of the day - olio. Not only phonetically sounding incredible, but meaning : a mixture of heterogeneous elements; a hodgepodge. What an incredible word with an amazing definition! I am determined to use olio in a sentence in the next couple of days and cement this word into my everyday vocabulary.