Boredworkers.com

Yep, if you haven’t yet noticed, the year has rolled over into 2006, today is a Friday and it is the 13th of January. The first Friday the 13th of 2006. Friday the 13ths are rare calendar days that some people (and cultures) view as unlucky. The dark combination of Friday and 13 can occur between once and three times anually. According to Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specialising in treatment of phobias, at the turn of the millenium and in America alone, as many as 21 million people (or 8% of the American population) suffer from an irrational fear Friday 13th. It is enough to warrant him coining the term “paraskevidekatriaphobia” to describe this unfounded phobia. Or is there more to it than meets the eye?

It is such a popular fear that Holliwood has seen fit to make it the focus of numerous productions. So what is it about the number 13 that it should become the centre of countless superstitions? Perhaps this interesting article entitled Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th may shed some light on the matter.

So is today significant at all, aside from the novelty factor of being the first and occuring in January no less? Definitely for those who dread it. But for the common man on the street, I think it is insignificant at best. Most people won’t even notice that today was Friday the 13th had it not been mentioned to them in passing. That being the case, best to just ignore it, leave the fretting to others, and get on with life.