Superstitions – Teach me to work on the Ides of March

Posted: March 15th, 2014 | Author: Ryan | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Not sure what you guys did with your day today, but I violated one of my chief superstitions, and now I feel sick, restless and pretty much regret not sticking with my traditions for the Ides of March. In that spirit, I thought I’d review some of the instances where I, a normally rational, scientific individual can turn into a superstitious sap.

Caesar’s Death (Wikipedia)

Ideas of March

Hey, if it’s potent enough to take down Caesar, why should I risk it? Typically I’ll take the day off and stay home every March 15th. On the rare occasion that I’ve been unable to get the time off, or thought I could risk it, I’ve ended up getting sick or suffering some other kind of set-back. As I write this post, my stomach is killing me, and my mind is telling me this is what I get for leaving the house and doing client work, though it’s probably the 2 coffees and 2 green teas I had after working so far to reset my caffeine tolerance.

Sports Jinx

If I start to watch a game that’s already in progress, and my team is ahead, I find myself in a quandry. Â On the occasion that my team starts to lose the lead after I tune in, I begin to worry if I’m jinxing the team. More than once I’ve elected to turn the game off and just check the final score later. Â I’m not above taking one for the team.

The Lottery

This might be simply a “don’t get your hopes up” thing, but whenever I get a lottery ticket (scratcher or otherwise), I never think about how I’d spend the winnings. Â Thinking about what you’d do with the money, whether it’s $10,000 or $400M, is a sure-fire way to make sure you’ll never see a cent. (BTW, for you younger dudes, the same rule applies to girls.)

Fu Dogs

Fu Dog (Photo credit: storyvillegirl)

Every time I walk past the Fu Dogs outside our office, I have to push the ball in their mouth to the left (their right). Â Years ago I convinced myself that this was good luck. Â Furthermore, I decided that if the ball was already on the side I was pushing it towards, I was just going to keep things going in the right direction. Â However, if the ball was on the opposite side, it meant I’d have to be the instrument of change that day.

How about you guys?