Friday the 13th
Feb. 13th, 2004 12:39 pmI try not to be superstitious. But I am wary of Friday the 13th.
When I was ten, I was locked out of my own house on Friday the 13th. My parents were away at a meeting or something. They had left me a key.
The key didn't work, even though we'd all tested it before. The lock wouldn't turn.
I had no way of contacting my parents to let them know what had happened, and they weren't going to be home for at least an hour. Remember, this is before answering machines, much less cell phones. They were in a meeting, so I couldn't call them.
I don't remember what I did. I think I walked back to school (it was only three blocks away). Maybe I left a note. Obviously, some sort of resolution was reached and I was rescued.
This incident indirectly prompted one of the best notes my parents ever left me, maybe a year or so later. My mother had to leave the house unexpectedly one afternoon, and I guess I didn't have a key at this point. The note on the front door read, "Had to go, will be back . Why don't you go visit Ralph and stay with him until I get home?"
This was a spontaneous hint that the back door was unlocked. Ralph was our dog. The hint worked, and I got inside OK.
I used to joke that my brother was born on Friday the 13th, and that;s why he was bad luck to me, but although his birthday is April 13, it was a lie in both senses -- he wasn't born on a Friday, and he hasn't been bad luck. Overall. Now that he's a grownup, anyway.
When I was ten, I was locked out of my own house on Friday the 13th. My parents were away at a meeting or something. They had left me a key.
The key didn't work, even though we'd all tested it before. The lock wouldn't turn.
I had no way of contacting my parents to let them know what had happened, and they weren't going to be home for at least an hour. Remember, this is before answering machines, much less cell phones. They were in a meeting, so I couldn't call them.
I don't remember what I did. I think I walked back to school (it was only three blocks away). Maybe I left a note. Obviously, some sort of resolution was reached and I was rescued.
This incident indirectly prompted one of the best notes my parents ever left me, maybe a year or so later. My mother had to leave the house unexpectedly one afternoon, and I guess I didn't have a key at this point. The note on the front door read, "Had to go
This was a spontaneous hint that the back door was unlocked. Ralph was our dog. The hint worked, and I got inside OK.
I used to joke that my brother was born on Friday the 13th, and that;s why he was bad luck to me, but although his birthday is April 13, it was a lie in both senses -- he wasn't born on a Friday, and he hasn't been bad luck. Overall. Now that he's a grownup, anyway.