I'll let it be known that on a Friday the 13th a couple years ago I walked by three black cats on the way to a friends place. I had a feeling everything was going to suck because my day was already in the drain and this triple cat sighting made me feel like the real shit-storm was coming. Not the case. I got to my friend's place and we had duck cassoulet (one of top ten meals of my life) while watching one of the most exciting hockey games I've ever seen. Then of course we had some top notch beers then drunk-food from the Burger Shack. Overall it was a great night and I've never cared about that calendar day anymore unless I'm teaching to raise awareness about how karma and the cosmos can mess you up.
We all know that in most apartment buildings and some hotels in the Western world the thirteenth floor is marked as the fourteenth because of superstition and all that voodoo-jazz. After coming to Korea and stepping into my elevator for the first time it was novel to see the thirteenth floor. I just assumed the number thirteen wasn't an unlucky one. Eventually it just became another floor to get off on. Now in hindsight I can't believe that Koreans aren't superstitious because they knit-pick a lot things. Example being people don't buy black dogs or cats because there is a "darkness" in them. Maybe they'd classify this is paranoia over superstition but still it's bizarre.
Recently I went over to a friend's place for a potluck. She lived on the sixth floor and it had been a long day so we decided to take the elevator. The panel was pretty standard for a small apartment except there was an "F" floor. We had no idea but I'm sure you can think of what an F can stand for. The weirdest thing is the F sound isn't even a sound in Korea. Come on up! I'm on the Ep-puh ploor. My Korean friend explained that the number 4 is also a sign of death in Korea. Spoooky. Looking back there wasn't a fourth floor in my hospital which makes complete sense now. This is an Asian-wide belief. In fact some buildings will go from 39 right to fifty. Did Samsung and Nokia users have to settle for 3G until 5G came out? This supstition can spread all over from train serial numbers to a an elevator omitting the number.
Maybe it's another reason to yell, "Fore!" in golf because death could be on its way.
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