donger need food.

Very Superstitious

Writings on the wall
Very superstitious
Letters 'bout to fall...

I don't think of myself as a superstitious person, but a little thing happened today that kinda got me thinking. As I was getting into my car today, I hit my temple hard on the frameless driver side window. It opened up a tiny cut, letting loose some blood and giving me a small bukol. I guess I had all these things on my mind about what I had to do for the day (add to that the fact that I haven't driven my car in like 2 weeks).

What it reminded me of was a little incident back when I was in my early twenties. On a whim, a couple of cousins and I had decided to go off to Vegas for the weekend. While out there, I got myself into a little rear-ender with a Nevada driver (teenage student learning to drive from her dad, slamming the brakes in an intersection with no stop sign). So when I come back home, the weirdest thing...my Dad asked me if everything was OK. I told him about the accident and he goes on to say, "see, I knew it!" Apparently, he had cut his thumb really bad that weekend and it was a sign that something bad had happened to me while I was out in Vegas.

I don't know...My parents would tell me all these stories about weird stuff that has happened to them, like stuff about witch doctors that get rid of little duendes, the mysterious appearance of patron saints during WWII to protect their towns, little elves kept in glass jars above the mantle, spirits that would visit soon after they had died. And if you hear them tell it, you'd think it really happened... Not sure what to believe; the scientific/analytical part of me doesn't buy into the hullaballu, but another part of me kinda thinks it's possible. After all, we're talking about another country that's completely foreign to me. Not only that, but these things happened years ago, back in the old days. And I know other filipinos that have similar stories/superstitions -- if a lot of people believe in it, it must be true, right? :)

This got me thinking about all those little superstitious things that I do:

• When folding your money in half, always keep the presidents' face outwards because it's supposed to give you good financial luck. (My auntie told me this one)
• If you see a coin on the ground and it's tails, don't pick it up (it's bad karma). Flip it over to heads to give good luck to the next person.
• I never have my bed pointing toward a door -- it's supposedly bad (something about evil spirits coming in and taking you)
• When you give wallets as gifts, always put some money in it (like a $2 bill)
  

I really hope that I'm just being silly reading too much into my little bump on the noggin', but it was weird, really -- up until that point, I was having another great cheery day (despite the rain)... Got a delicious bacon cheeseburger at George's: Really good, juicy ground chuck patties - they even let me order medium rare woo hoo!! Their bun was just OK though. Next time I'll pass on the grilled onions & bacon and just go for a straight up cheeseburger. Fries were good too. I also had a good productive meeting about a couple of LIKHA projects that we're working on. And I was having fun feeding a couple of rolls through the Holga while I roamed The WC's outdoor mall.

Actually I take that back. Today was a great day. I even got to spend an enjoyable evening with some very good friends eating a nice dinner and receiving an education about the subtleties of ice skating competitions. It's just too bad I couldn't see that one competitor after whom I was given the latter half of my nickname (supposedly she's really good?) It sure was funny seeing Manny jinx the skaters: "fall on your ass, bitch!" And they did! Heh...maybe there is something to this superstition/hoodoo voodoo after all.

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:20 AM

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