Happy Friday the 13th
If today’s date fills you with fear, you are not alone. But it does mean that you have paraskavedekatriaphobia. My birthdays in ‘85, ‘91, ‘96, and ‘02 fell on Friday the 13th so I always figured I got a pass on the whole bad luck thing. Many people who suffer from this phobia also suffer from the more general triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13. This is so prevalent that most of our hotels and office buildings skip the 13th floor and go right to the 14th. I always thought this was really weird. I really like the philosopher Mitch Hedberg’s take on the whole thing: “What room are you in? 1401. No you’re NOT! Jump out of the window, you will die EARLIER!”.