Superstitions – Teach me to work on the Ides of March

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.  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.  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.  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).  Years ago I convinced myself that this was good luck.  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.  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?