Zachary Fouladian, Staff Writer
Friday the 13^th and I don’t exactly get along. First time I ever remember having a bad one was in elementary school. I was rushing to lunch (it was pizza day) and I managed to slam right into the hardest-headed kid in the school. I got my first nosebleed ever right then and there, and after one of the staff carried me crying to the nurse, I spent a good hour getting fixed up. That same day, I tripped and fell onto the floor, and my nose started bleeding yet again. So no, I don’t hold much love for Friday the 13^th.
Aside from my own personal feelings, Friday the 13^th reeks of bad luck. The number 13 itself is also regarded as bad luck by the culture that we live in today. There were 13 men at Jesus’s last supper, and his hanging was allegedly on a Friday, as well as other Biblical tragedies such as the Tower of Babel and Eve offering Adam the Apple. From today’s scientific standpoint, this day isn’t any likelier to hold death or misfortune, and in fact the fear of the day can drive people to be more cautious then on the average, regular-luck day. But by the same token, people have an acute sense of misfortune on Friday the 13^th, so the placebo effect or the general feeling of doom on this day is another question.
Ever since high school started, I’ve always felt that Friday the 13^th is a teensy bit too close to finals for my taste. I’m worried that a teacher is going to forget the second digit of my grade for that last test and refuse to change it. But every year, I see people walking around with big smiles on their faces for Friday the 13^th. I even know a few people who consider the day to be personally lucky to them, either because of something that happened on a previous Friday the 13^th or because of sheer optimism. And in any case, that unfortunate, unwanted Friday always marks the two-week point before my own birthday, and nothing makes up for a bloody nose better then cake and presents.