"18 Superstitions from around the World"

[Tom]

Okay......here's another list.  Interesting stuff.  The last time I ran into the Friday the 13th superstition was on a return trip out of Milan's Linate International Airport.  Direct flight to SFO.  There's was about 10 of use in Coach.     I asked the Head Steward.  "How come?"  He said Italians are very superstitious about Friday the 13th.  I had a whole row of seats to stretch out on a couple of meals with generous amount of booze.     The cabin crew was happy to serve the pax that was on the flight.  The real pax were the cargo containers with designer leather goods for the U.S. market.

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/18-superstitions-from-around-the-world/QQIyTWmzJ9QvLg

[Wildroamer]

Awesome list! Very cool!
Oh, and
"Candy Man, Candy Man..."
Aw, I can't!

[john fish]

According to my German Grandmother, lay a broom across the doorway to keep witches from coming in the house.

My Irish mother would put copper pennies on the windowsills on New Years Day and, as everyone knows, the first person in the house on New Years Day had to be male with black hair.

[Perazzimx14]

I'm not superstitious but I do like to go out the same door I came in so I don't leave my luck behind. Won't walk under a ladder and will go out of my way so as not to pass the path of a black cat.

[ozarquebus]

In regard to the broom across the door, it reminds of a story related to me by a guy who was one of the first WalMart store managers in the NE US, many years ago...

 I must preface this by stating that the beliefs indicated by the story are not held by me and there are some who would think the insinuation is derogatory. Any kind of ethnic prejudice is, of course, a bad thing.

 Anyway, up around NY state, the new Walmart in a fairly affluent area was experiencing periodic late night break-ins. The thefts were small and almost petty, but still rather problematic. Local employees told him:
 "It's those '*******'",
referring to a certain ethnic group known for their superstitious and transient lifestyles that moved about the area.
 The local employees advised him to put a broom across the doors after closing. Whether it was those '*******' or not, no one knows, but there was never another burglary at the store while he was in charge for three years. The new manager came in and disregarded the silly practice with the broom. Within a week, the store got hit by a smash-and-grab of cigarettes.

[oldbike54]

 

In regard to the broom across the door, it reminds of a story related to me by a guy who was one of the first WalMart store managers in the NE US, many years ago...

 I must preface this by stating that the beliefs indicated by the story are not held by me and there are some who would think the insinuation is derogatory. Any kind of ethnic prejudice is, of course, a bad thing.

 Anyway, up around NY state, the new Walmart in a fairly affluent area was experiencing periodic late night break-ins. The thefts were small and almost petty, but still rather problematic. Local employees told him:
 "It's those '*******'",
referring to a certain ethnic group known for their superstitious and transient lifestyles that moved about the area.
 The local employees advised him to put a broom across the doors after closing. Whether it was those '*******' or not, no one knows, but there was never another burglary at the store while he was in charge for three years. The new manager came in and disregarded the silly practice with the broom. Within a week, the store got hit by a smash-and-grab of cigarettes.

 Sounds like anecdotal nonsense , i have  heard similar stories from across the country . None are ever more than complete fabrications meant to reinforce some ridiculous need to denigrate the "other".

It goes without saying why that is problematic

Dusty

[ozarquebus]

So true, this whole thread is pretty much based on anecdotal nonsense.

Not many superstitions are statistically verified, therefore superstitions are pretty much anecdotal by definition.

Whether nonsense or not, that is a matter of personal belief and most superstitions will also be based on age old ethnic beliefs. Superstition, religion and prejudice are integrally linked. Maybe this thread should be 86'd.

Here is another one.

My neighbor was selling his house so he buried a statue of a certain saint upside down in his yard. His house sold right away.

[lucian]

I hung a horseshoe years ago above the side door on the inside of my little garage.  It had been there quite a while and one day a friend told me it was upside down and all  the luck had spilled out.  I laughed and called him superstitious and a few days later I entered the garage in a hurry and closed the door and the horseshoe fell and hit me right on my big toe. And it hurt.  Needless to say I hung it back up the right way.

[injundave]

I've always thought that it's bad luck to be superstitious.

[Ncdan]

My mother told us kids that a dog howling for no reason was a sigh of death as well as a dove getting to naturally close to a human being. Both these events happened at my GrandPa’s home just days before he passed in his sleep. I do believe there are unnatural  forces beyond our human ability to sense and be aware of.

[cliffrod]

My culinary apprenticeship included me being hired as the only white regular employee (excluding management) in a otherwise non-white down south kitchen.  Lots of different beliefs, superstitions and educational opportunities.  The most noted one involved a broom and feet. 

Growing up farming, you sweep the manure and mud from your boots all the time.  Carelessly tracking a bunch of manure into the house, especially past the kitchen floor,  was more than bad luck....  One day in the kitchen, I accidentlally brushed the edge of a fellow line cook's feet with a broom while sweeping the floor.  Instant explosion & nearly a fist fight.  He went nuts- repeatedly screamed at me to "never do that to me again",  threw salt over his shoulders, grabbed the broom, threw it to the floor, spit on the bristles, then stomped on it and did other things to counteract the deathly bad luck associated with sweeping a broom on one's feet. 

Never saw anything get him worked up like that, but several other people in the kitchen immediately confirmed that it is very, very bad luck.   I asked no more and made sure to keep away from other peoples' feet with the broom from that point forward.

[ozarquebus]

Then the old standard of a bird flying into the house through an open door or window as an omen of death.

[Ncdan]

Then the old standard of a bird flying into the house through an open door or window as an omen of death.

Yes. Mom also quoted that one also.

[oldbike54]

 Green motorbikes are bad luck .

 Dusty

[wavedog]

Submarines, when surfaced, have a starboard list so they return to port.

[ozarquebus]

A list makes a boat turn the opposite way? There, I learned something.