Jinx, buy me a Coke

– Random Writings: Column by Rebecca Lindquist –

Whether a person is superstitious or not, everyone has a tendency to react with a conditioned response or hang on to a long-ingrained habit, when it comes to certain phrases. A few weeks ago, Friday landed on the 13th. Since Roman times, this has been a taboo date.

The number 12 was looked upon with favor: 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the Zodiac, the 12 days of Christmas, but the number 13 first received a bad rap, when Judas was the 13th member of The Last Supper, when he betrayed Christ, which led to the Crucifixion.

Growing up, I dreaded going to school on Friday the 13th. I expected impending doom from the moment I stepped on the bus, anticipating bad luck at every turn. (I think the worst thing that occurred was a pop quiz.) One positive aspect of 13, is a baker’s dozen. Who doesn’t want to receive that extra cookie or donut?

My daughter, Hannah, and I were recently enjoying a drive on a beautiful sunny afternoon, when she commented it’s funny how superstitions or habits develop. We were crossing a set of railroad tracks and automatically put our forefinger on the window.

About 10 years ago, Hannah, and her friend, Lucas sat together on the bus, coming back from a school field trip. Lucas was adamant that Han touch the glass pane with her finger as they were driving across the tracks. He explained it was bad luck if you didn’t do that.

Hannah told me about it, so I started touching my finger to the car window at every train crossing and we have continued that custom to this day.

Knocking on wood is another involuntary action. The origin of this phrase stems from the Celtic belief that spirits residing inside the trees, good or bad, could be called upon for either protection or chased away, by knocking on the wood. If it’s a plastic wood-grain pattern, I tend to cheat and say a variation, “knocking on pre-fabricated wood.” I think that still counts, right?

I think everyone has tossed salt over their shoulder, at least once in their life, after knocking over a salt shaker. This also dates back to The Last Supper, where Leonardo de Vinci portrayed Judas as having accidentally spilled salt. Since Judas is viewed as a betrayer, that negativity was attached to salt and it was reasoned throwing salt over your left shoulder would blind the devil waiting there.

In grade school, my friends told me if you knocked over the pepper container, you had to shake pepper over your right shoulder three times. I never figured out why, but reasoned it couldn’t hurt.

Stepping on a crack was a childhood game that carried over into adulthood. I absolutely wasn’t taking any chances it would break my mom’s back. As I got older, I discovered it’s virtually impossible not to step on a crack now and then.

Jinx, buy me a coke is a saying I grew up with and is uttered when two people say the exact same thing, at the same time. I still use that expression frequently, but, to be honest, the actual purchase and exchange of Coca-Cola never takes place.

See a penny, pick it up and all day long, you’ll have good luck. I was reading the history of this saying and discovered I’ve been doing it wrong all these years. Apparently, if you find a penny facing tails up, you’re supposed to turn it heads up and leave it for the next person to find, so they’ll enjoy good fortune.

If you pick up a tails-up penny and keep it, you’ll have bad luck. If you stop in the middle of a busy road to pick anything up, the chance of getting run over is a good possibility. So, yes, definitely bad luck. I’m willing to risk it, because being po’ folk, a penny is a penny.

My friend, Eva’s, grandma, passed down the notion that anyone who crosses over a river must take off their shoes for good luck. (I don’t recommend doing that while you’re driving.) We were on a business trip with our boss, Tim, who was driving, and we were approaching the bridge to cross the Wisconsin River, when Eva yelled, “Quick, take off our shoes!”

Naturally, Eva and I kicked our shoes off immediately, then Eva, who was sitting in between Tim and me, reached down and tried to grab Tim’s right shoe off. He was panic laughing as he pushed her hand away and hilarity ensued from there. Fortunately, we made it safely across without incident.

I’m sure it was because I had my fingers crossed.