<p>I am amazed at the superstitious beliefs held by people. </p>
<p>Just made air reservations for D2 for fall break. I know she prefers window seats, so I reserved one in row 2 for her way home - there were plenty of window seats left.</p>
<p>For the return trip (the plane has one aisle with three seats on each side of the aisle), every window and aisle seat was taken, with every middle seat still available, except for row 13, of which NO seats were taken yet (all six seats still available in row 13). And it’s an exit row, so you’d think people would go for it with the extra leg room and such. I had to look at the seating chart for a couple of minutes to make sure I was reading it right.</p>
<p>In the building I’m working on designing, I have to keep remembering that level 12 is supporting the cladding loads for level 14, because there’s no level 13. It confuses the heck out of me if I’m not consciously thinking about it.</p>
<p>At the hospital I work at, the birthing rooms are labeled 1-12, then 14-17. No one wanted to have their baby in 13. By the way, it will probably be very slow there today, as no one wants to have their baby on 9-11, so no scheduled C/Sections or inductions.</p>
<p>There is a book titled “13: The Story of the World’s Most Popular Superstition” by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer:</p>
<p>“13 brings together forgotten history and unknown facts about unlucky 13 to create the compelling story of the rise of a single belief. It is also a book about superstition in general - why people believe what they believe and why they stop believing when they do. 13 draws on history and the range of contemporary superstitions; in so doing, it touches on the fate of mythmaking in general. 13 answers the following questions, among others: When did the 13 superstition begin, and why? Why is Spain divided over whether Tuesday the 13th or Friday the 13th is the traditional unlucky 13th day? What other number superstitions exist in other cultures? Which is the only major hotel in New York City that has a 13th floor? What are the top three conspiracy theories about unlucky 13? What is the Thirteen Club, and why did it count three U. S. presidents among its members?”</p>
<p>If the library has it, I will check it out.</p>
<p>My house number has TWO 13s in it; beat that! </p>
<p>I had the housewarming on the 13th of the month, scheduled to start at 13:13:13. One of the events of the day was the shattering of an installed mirror I wanted to get rid of (yes, I taped it first!). We celebrated all things thirteen: the 13th Amendment, baker’s dozens, and so on.</p>
<p>Fortunately, none of my friends have triskadecaphobia; we had a grand time!</p>
<p>regarding exit rows costing more, I was given the option of picking out the seat after I’d submitted my credit card information, so at least on this flight, it was the same price.</p>
<p>Oh, and there were two rows of exit seats, 12 and 13; the aisle and window seats were taken in row 12.</p>
<p>A lot of airlines now save the exit seats for their premium passengers because of the extra legroom. Also, those passengers are familiar with the way things work in an emergency (can you imagine how many times they’ve heard it??). </p>
<p>Also, for the airlines that don’t save them for frequent flyers, it is easier to assign the exit seats during check-in when they can see the size/age/language ability of the passengers rather than having to move people around once they board.</p>
<p>“In 1817, 13 men - six clergy and seven laymen - met in the frontier settlement of Hamilton with “13 dollars, 13 prayers, and 13 articles.” (To this day, members of the Colgate community consider the number 13 a good omen.) In that meeting, the men founded the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York, the cornerstone in the foundation of what would become Colgate University.”</p>
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