Tag Archives: rain

It’s been raining for what seems like forever here in Boston, and during a quick trip to CVS, I saw three girls debating the purchase of a rain slicker vs. a new umbrella.

One felt the slickers ‘had no style.’  (Good point.)  So she picked up one of the more brightly colored umbrellas and began to open it in the store.

Her friends practically threw her to the ground.

“Don’t you know it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside a building?” one said in horror.  “Are you trying to ruin our lives?”

I smiled, as did several other people standing in line at the register.  I’m sure many found this superstition childish.

But as someone who has had a penny tails-up on her dining room floor for a couple of months now — who has mopped and swept around it because it’s bad luck to pick it up — my smile was more in understanding.

I treat superstitions with respect.  I’m that person you see going out of her way to avoid walking under a ladder.  I always throw salt over my left shoulder if I knock over a shaker (so beware if you’re in that direction).  I have broken a mirror and gone into a serious funk, convinced my next seven years are toast.

Even though I know superstitions like these are silly, I just can’t seem to tempt the fates and ignore them. Like the girls in the store, I think my future is worth a public spectacle or two.

Or, at least, that’s my excuse.