Posted on 10/22/2008 9:52:17 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Are you superstitious? I would like to tell you that I'm not superstitious but I can't. Although I wish I could pooh-pooh superstitions because of my utterly rational mind, I am forced to admit that I have too many cases of superstitions being proved correct in my life. The first time I really noticed how strong superstitions can be was when I was back in high school. This is what happened:
I used to take a bus to my high school. Anyway, in the 10th grade I became aware of a strange pattern. Whenever I had a test later in the day, I noticed that a car bringing a really ugly (and annoying) girl to the bus stop was always late. This girl really disgusted me because the bus was always crowded and because we both had to stand up, she slammed into me when the bus driver hit the brakes on our ride to the school.
At first when I saw the car in the distance trying to make it to the bus stop on time, I kept my mouth shut so the ugly girl would miss the bus (don't give me humanitarian lectures since I was a high school punk back then) and wouldn't slam into me while we went to school. Meanwhile, later that day, I would get no better than a mediocre C on whatever test I took.
However, once in a while, a rare humanitarian streak would hit me and I would tell the bus driver to hold up and wait for the car carrying the ugly girl. Whenever that happened, I always aced whatever test I took later that day.
At first I thought this was a strange coincidence but this pattern continued the next year. On all test days, the car carrying the ugly girl would always be running late. If I kept my mouth shut and made her miss the bus, I always did lousy in the tests. Whenever I told the bus driver to wait so the ugly girl can have time to get aboard, I aced the test. By the second half of the 11th grade, I finally caught on. From that point on I ALWAYS told the bus driver to wait for the ugly girl and I ALWAYS aced all tests I took that day.
My senior year was a breeze. I rarely studied or even cracked open a book. On top of that I had a poolboy job at a beach motel full of hot tourist chicks in the afternoons. And yet...I got straight As with no effort. Why? You guessed it. I ALWAYS told that bus driver to wait for the ugly girl and I ALWAYS got straight A's on ALL my tests. One day I even had to take a test in all of my classes and I still aced them all despite little or no studying.
The strangest thing is that the girl never showed up at all on days when I had no tests that day. It was only when I had a test (or more than one test) that she showed up late. And it always had the same pattern in that I would see her car (or rather mother's car) in the distance.
So now you know why I am very superstitious. Once or twice or maybe even ten times with this event occurring could be marked up to coincidence. But MANY times over the years with the exact SAME pattern? I chalk that up to strange forces at work thus my superstition.
Me? I slept through most of my HS senior year and still was in upper third of class. No superstitions or ugly girls, but it might have been, are you ready?, The Power of Relaxation. If I hadn’t learned by my senior year what HS had to teach, I wasn’t going to learn it in the last year.
what bad happened to the car then? otherwise, bad luck indeed for the kitty
“I Ain’t Superstitious” by Willie Dixon (father of the Blues)
Meet me on the bottom,
Bring me my running shoes.
When i come out the window,
We ain’t got time to lose.
Well i ain’t superstitious,
But a black cat crossed my trail.
Don’t brush me with my broom, babe,
I just might land in jail.
Well my right hand itchin’, babe,
I get smothered by the shore.
Look down you engine, babe,
But somebody got to go.
Meet me on the bottom, babe,
Bring me my running shoes.
When i come out the window, babe,
We ain’t got time to lose.
Well i hope you are listening,
When i come streaking by.
Got a bad old man, babe,
And i’m too young to die.
Well i ain’t superstitious,
But a black cat crossed my trail.
Don’t brush me with my broom, babe,
I just might land in jail.
Dogs been barking
All around my neighborhood.
You give a sign, babe,
Ain’t do nobody no good.
Well, I notice that the less time I have to make it from the bus stop to work, the more likely it is that some sort of time-consuming shenanigans will occur on the bus. However, I think that’s a variation on Murphy’s Law.
Another superstition/habit I have is I always take a tootsie pop or something sugary with me to eat while I’m taking an exam. The one time in the last year or so that I forgot one, the professor just randomly happened to bring in some cookies for the class that day.
When I was a kid, I had a few interesting ones, although I’m not sure whether these are ordinary superstitions, cause some of them aren’t. I’d make sure to take two steps on every sidewalk tile, not stepping on the cracks. I’d rinse a cup out three times before using it if I was drinking tap water. I always kept everything that came in multiple colors in color order, to the point where my sock drawer looked like it was a color-picker for a Paint program or something. If I had to knock on a door, I’d always knock three times. I know there was more, but I just can’t remember that much.
Those were indicators of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Just sayin'.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if her superstition was to purposely miss the bus on test days because she seemed to get better scores when that happened?
That was you?
My kids hate you.
Well, it doesn’t really matter, cause I don’t do all those things these days... heck, I don’t even bother to put my socks in pairs any more. Although, I do put my 5 or 6 non-black t-shirts in color order but that’s just cause they look pretty like that.
It was in Germany, in a little rural village in the wee hours of the morning. I got out but couldn’t find the little guy - he may have just gotten knicked and taken off into the fields. I sure hoped so - I love black cats (we have two). I was traumatized so I guess it was bad luck for me too!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.