American Cheerleader

It’s Friday the 13th! Otherwise known as my favorite holiday of the year! Seriously. Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, “Friday the 13th isn’t a holiday!” And OK, so it may not be on the calendar as a full-fledged day off of school or anything. And sure, the “holiday” comes around more than a few times a year. But I say, so what! If it’s got a history behind it and you can get together with your friends to celebrate, why can’t it be a holiday?

According to Wikipedia, Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of good or bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year.

Folklorists say there is no written evidence for a “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century. The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:

[Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.

But studies and reports have shown that Fridays can actually be good luck, as there are actually fewer accidents and injuries on this freaky day. The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) has stated that “fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday 13th, at least in The Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500.

Despite the superstitions that Friday the 13th is all black cats and bad luck, I love this day! In fact, I’m sort of famous for throwing Friday the 13th parties for my friends every time the day rolls around. Take tonight for example: I have 10 friends coming over to my apartment and we’re making a ton of food (evil potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, stromboli, little smokies sausages and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies) and watching scary movies (on tonight’s lineup? Halloween and Scream).

So, why not add another “holiday” to your calendar and throw a get-together of your own! Happy Friday the 13th everyone….and be safe!

Brittany

P.S. What’s your fave un-holiday? Leave your comment below and the first 13 readers will win a Friday the 13th prize!

cat photo courtesy of poecalendar.blogspot.com; 4-leaf clover photo courtesy of i.ehow.com