What are your superstitions?

I always rub my turnips three times before leaving the house.

aadams73 said:

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Personally, I'm superstitious about showing anyone my first drafts. I don't like talking about upcoming exciting events in my life. And if I spill salt I always throw some over my left shoulder. The latter I do without even thinking. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]So, please amaze me with your freakishly weird superstitions. What are you superstitious about?[/FONT]

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I never show anybody a WIP until it's complete. First drafts are fine, but I have at least 4 trunk novels I never finished because I let people read them as I was working on them. Crazy coincidence, but true.

scarletpeaches said:

I always rub my turnips three times before leaving the house.

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I tried that once. You broke my fingers.

I hate the number 6.
I hate crows and cross them off for good luck.
I will not walk under a ladder.

Oh, and I never feed my baboons after midnight.

A handyman was over once. His palm started to itch, and he said he had to leave but would be back shortly. I asked him where he was going. I thought maybe he needed material for the job. He said he had to go play lottery.

Apparently itchy palms equals mula.

I think you know the ending to this story...he didn't win the lotto.

Like aadams, I also won't brag about huge upcoming events for fear I'll jinx them.

I don't have many superstitions that I can think of although one time a few years ago, I was with a buddy of mine and we ran into a female friend I hadn't seen in a while. The last time I'd seen her, she was having some serious problems with her marriage.

We were at a bar and I asked her how she was doing etc. She then began to cackle with glee over how she'd finally gotten a divorce and raked her ex-husband over the coals. She began to brag about how he'd had to sell his business and some property etc and she got half of the money.

She then insisted on buying my friend and me a drink. We both reacted like those cats you see on Halloween posters and declined her offer.

As we walked away, we both agreed it would have been very bad luck indeed to have accepted those drinks.

I fancy myself a hardcore skeptic, but my husband pointed out the other day that I'm very superstitious about "jinxing" things by saying good things about them, like "This trip has been so smooth. No traffic jams, no accidents, the weather has been beautiful."

He says stuff like that just to taunt me. He did this all the way home from Bonnaroo. I was apoplectic!

No tattoos with people's names in them. It jinxes relationships.

I won't take $$$ or anything that came from theft or Voodoo (yes, the Voodoo one has come up!).

I used to run the mainframes at a huge company. When you updated the next person on shift about what had happened and it was a great night, you could not say that or everyone would freak. 'OK' was about as postive as you could voice it. Inevitably the system would crash on them if you told them how nicely the boxes were playing

aadams73 said:

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]And if I spill salt I always throw some over my left shoulder. The latter I do without even thinking. [/FONT]

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Would hate to be sat behind you in a restaurant.

As for the topic, I used to have a few as a kid, but not now.

*cough* You're all freaks. *cough*

About the only thing I'm superstitious about is my favorite sports teams and athletes. I'm convinced that any time I watch, only bad things will happen -- and good things can only happen if I'm not watching. So most of the time I'm forced to tape the event and then watch it later.

I refuse to watch the Indy 500 for that reason, DW. Three times I've watched, and as IIRC, all three races began with a crash almost as soon as the pace car broke away. I *am* a jinx!

I'm OCD. I have a few superstitions I'd prefer not to mention...just ritual-like things.

aadams73 said:

I won't bet on horses. Last time I did, the poor horse broke its leg and had to be euthanized on the track.

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You should ring the organisers of the races and ask for money not to watch.

aadams73 said:

Hmm, I see a ludicrous new career in my future.

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I see lotsa organisers laughing at you down the phone.

I never start my car with dynamite. Call me eccentric.

Ah, that reminds me! When I visit Ireland, it never rains [it misted one day]. And it rains the day I leave. Every. Time. It freaked out my friends completely by the third trip. I swear I should offer my services for weddings!

[I told them I think they just lie about their weather to try to cut down on obnoxious tourists.]

Cranky said:

I refuse to watch the Indy 500 for that reason, DW. Three times I've watched, and as IIRC, all three races began with a crash almost as soon as the pace car broke away. I *am* a jinx!

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To be honest, I am a jinx too. There's nothing superstitious. It's pure, cold fact. When it comes to sports, it's like a negative cosmic power.

Oh boy. I love this stuff.

First, I don't believe in half of this stuff, but I'll play along anyway just because I think it is funny.

Graveyards - When driving past them, I hold my breath, for as long as it takes to get to the other side. "Dead men get jealous." And now that I live in Louisiana (think New Orleans graveyards) that's become harder.

Tunnels - If you hold your breath through the length of a tunnel, you'll get a wish.

Bedroom - No open doorways, no mirrors in the room. Period.

Karma - Both ways, but if you talk about your good karma, Ironic bad karma shows up.

Hair - The hair that collects in my hair brush has to go in the trash. Some people take the brush out to their car or outside sometimes, and when hair collects on it there, they'll throw it into the wind. I won't do that.

Eggs - I crush them before I throw them away. Witches can use them as small boats when cracked in half, and they'll sail into your ear and make you do bad things.

Cars - I've had a car where the guy had a certain cassette tape in the deck (I forget which one, someone like John Denver or ... not him but I can't remember) and I wasn't to remove it. I didn't and I never had a problem. After I sold it, the lady who bought it from me cleaned it out, and two weeks later it busted.

Right now I'm dealing with a picture of Jesus and Mary on the wall in my new apartment. It's pretty, but I'd rather it be elsewhere and not have it in my bedroom, except I'm too afraid to move it.

No mirrors in the bedroom? Where's the fun in that?

I'm another one who throws salt over my shoulder if I spill any.
I never bet on my family's horses at the track or brag about them.
Black cats bring good luck, white cats bring back luck.
I never show any of my writing to anyone until I've finished the first draft and am happy with it.