superstitions and origins

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dawn_kiebawls

Lawncare and Landscaping enthusiast
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So today while out mowing (I'm a lawncare professional, so I mow...a lot..and I have a LOT of time for my mind to run wild. Its amazing I dont drink more than I do) I mowed for the neighbor of a customer of mine. He had scaffolding and ladders up all around his house and I was uneasy going underneath any of them. This got me thinking: What if the origin of the superstition 'walking under a ladder is bad luck' is simply because, typically if there's a ladder up someone is on the top working and might just accidentally drop something on yer damn mellon? May also be the origin of the hardhat...

I also had a black cat jump out in front of my mower and scared the shi*t out of me but I have no explanation for this as of yet. Any others? I'd love to have something to mull over while I mow other peoples lawns knowing mine is getting out of control and only wanting to brew! cheers
 
lol, i just don't want to knock the ladder down....beit A frame, or extending...and cats are evil, i don't care if their black, gray, orange or brown....i hate the damn things crapping in my yard like it's their toilet....
 
I always balance the ladder question with:

Will the bad luck of walking under a ladder be less than or greater to the time saved by not walking around...as determined by the spousal unit actively managing the "project"?
 
Had a friend with a nice boat, he would take me salmon fishing out in Puget Sound. His one rule was no bananas on the boat. I asked why and he said it's bad luck and will bring bad luck. I pressed him further and it was instilled in him during his time working for a guide boat captain.

I once commented that "you don't believe in God or a higher power but you believe a banana has control over your destiny"?

His answer was a simple yes, I guess so.
 
I've always wondered about the 'no wives/women' on a fishing boat. The best I could come up with is that after a week at sea with your wife/girlfriend you would eventually just jump overboard, so, when the ship returns to port without you it was just assumed that the wife was the source of the mysterious bad luck!

I don't understand bananas though. Sure the peels are anecdotally slippery but I think a fresh fish has a banana peel beat
 
I have done a lot of offshore sailing and we have a few superstitions we live by.. Don't start a passage/trip on a Friday, the couple times I have gone on a cruise it started on a Friday and felt very nervous about it, and never say anything bad about or at Neptune. Don't anger the sea god. Also women are bad luck on a boat unless they are naked, naked women calmed the sea, which is why so many figureheads on the bow of old sailing ships were women with bare breasts.
 
Had a friend with a nice boat, he would take me salmon fishing out in Puget Sound. His one rule was no bananas on the boat. I asked why and he said it's bad luck and will bring bad luck. I pressed him further and it was instilled in him during his time working for a guide boat captain.
I saw that on one of those alligator hunting swamp people shows. The guy's partner brought a lunch with a banana in it and he goes off about you never bring a banana on a boat cause it's bad luck. No definitive answer as to why on the web that I can find.
 
I will not allow yellow or white lighters in my car. I have zero qualms snatching it from someones grasp and tossing it out the window. Been involved in too many flukey car situations and found one in my pocket, even though I would refuse to purchase them. Thats about the only folk-y superstition I follow.
 
I assume bad luck and mirrors comes from them being made with expensive hand blown, spun, & cut pieces of glass until the industrial revolution.
 
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