02 December 2010

Superstitions

I received an email today from a guy I used to date a while back, which made me think about weird little things I do. To explain, he grew up in western Africa. I grew up in Vermont. My odd little quirks seemed even more peculiar to someone from an entirely different culture. The particular odd little gesture that launched this conversation was that when he drove through a yellow light, I kissed my hand and touched the ceiling of the car (do you call that a ceiling? such is my hatred of cars). He found this so very strange.

So here are some more things that at 33 years old, I still do...

  • I still wish on the first star I see in the evening (and still go through the full "starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, blah blah blah blah blah tonight" thing in my head every time).
  • I won't toast with water, for fear of sinking the ship (what ship? I was never clear...).
  • When I am in a car that goes over train tracks, I still lift my feet, and I still hold my breath when driving past cemeteries.
  • I avoid being near mirrors in the dark.
  • I won't light three cigarettes (or candles) with one match (ready, aim, fire).
  • I avoid walking under ladders and make it a point not to break mirrors.
  • I sometimes believe that if I think about someone hard enough, they'll know - or at the very least, they'll think of me too.
  • I count out the seconds to 60 when taking off in a plane.
  • I won't buy opals.
  • If I have money in my pocket when I hear the first bird sing in the spring, I will have money in my pocket for the rest of the year.
  • I make a wish at 11:11.

I'm sure there are millions more. Any of my seven readers have weird little beliefs?

2 comments:

Chrissy said...

In addition to several of yours in which i participate (yellow light, train tracks, cemetaries, mirrors/ladders, opals, 11:11, and, of course, i'm always looking out for the safety of our sailors) "knock on wood" is my biggie.

Max said...

I still avoid stepping on cracks except in situations where it would be impossible / too weird-looking. And in those situations I try to make sure it's the middle of my arch that hits the crack, not the front or back of the foot.