07/19/2024
Fr**gatriskaidekaphobia
As I walked along the freeway, in the pitch dark, I reflected on what the night actually was - Friday the 13th. Not only had I experienced a flat tire only hours before, I now had a blow out on the spare tire. I was in the middle of nowhere, it was getting late and it was miles until I would reach the next town to get help. As I grumbled in my mind, I stumbled over something on the side of the road. A car quickly passed by and I noticed from its headlights that it was a dead possum. “Looks like my Friday the 13th is going better than yours,” I said to him.
Why is it that we consider Friday the 13 to be bad luck? To be honest there is really no written evidence of this day being unlucky until after the 19th century. Many people have believed Friday to be an unlucky day over the years, although to most, they are glad to see it coming. And, perhaps through gambling and superstitions, the number 13 has become unpopular or unlucky over the years as well. Whatever the reason, in the United States, up to 20 million people a year have a tremendous fear of Friday the 13th. Many people refuse to go into work that day or handle any sort of business transactions.
The Phobia for this day is called “Fr**gatriskaidekaphobia.” Fr**ga being the name of the Norse goddess “Friday” and triskaidekaphobia being the fear of the number 13.
Several builders and contractors also consider the number 13 to be an unlucky number, leaving the 13th floor of their buildings out all together. Instead they name the floor either “12a” or “Floor M” which is the 13th letter in the Latin alphabet. 13 is also skipped as the room number in many buildings and hotels as well.
Most people with Fr**gatriskaidekaphobia have an overwhelming fear of being killed that day. Although like any other day, there is always a chance of death but there have been a few cases of famous people who died on a Friday the 13th such as Tupac Shakur and Julia Childs. One death, however might have been avoided that day and that was the case of Sam Patch.
Sam Patch had become famous in the 1800’s for his daring feats of jumping off large cliffs into the water below. He had jumped in the Niagara River at one point and become a household name over night. Many people would come to his dives and he would always try to outdo himself with each new jump. He would soon challenge the 99 foot falls of the Genesee River in Rochester, NY. On Friday, November 6, 1829, he made his way to the falls, standing in front of 8,000 people. He walked out onto a rock ledge and tossed over a pet bear cub. Noticing that the cub made the fall and swam to safety, he jumped in himself. Although he was satisfied with the jump, he had not made the money that he thought he would and vowed to do the jump again the next Friday.
On Friday, November 13, 1829, Sam Patch increased the height of the jump by 25 feet, adding a stand to the rock he would be jumping from. As Sam prepared to jump before the thousands of spectators, something went wrong and he lost his footing, landing in the water below with a crashing impact. As the people looked on, he was nowhere in sight and never surfaced. It was rumored that he had been hiding in a cave just below to increase the suspense but he was never found that day.
Early the next spring a farmer spotted something floating in a chunk of ice. It was the body of Sam Patch. He had in fact met his fate on Friday the 13th. He was buried in a nearby cemetery where a wooden plank was placed over the grave that read “Sam Patch - Such is Fame.” Some of the towns ministers shamed the spectators who had been there, telling them that the death could have been avoided had they not encouraged Sam to make such a dangerous jump, especially on a Friday the 13th.
Be careful folks, we never know what lurks around the corner on Friday the 13th and if you find your elevator stopping on floor 12a or M, don’t forget, that is still 13. Mwhahahahahahaha.
