I didn’t Know that Friday the 13th Was Really Spooked…. Until today!
Being the Millennial or Generation Y that I am, I am one of those youngsters who don’t believe in superstitions and all the other things the Silent Generation believed in. We are a very difficult generation; we’re stubborn, we question, we reason, and disobedient [lol]. I mean like really, this is 2023, who still believes in that, particularly Friday the 13th?
Well, it turns out that the day is still SPOOKED, like really spooked, haunted, and has bad luck [lol]. And today yours truly got the chan…, opportun… or is it a privilege or whatever I don’t know but I got to experience that. I tell you; my week was full of bliss I could have shared some with half the population. My boss, Craig Mills (great man by the way) and I were talking via email during the week, and he was telling me about a project he thought I might be interested in. No, he thought I would love and be a great fit, and boy was he right.
I’m a writer and virtual assistant by the way, so the project is about helping an eCommerce baby store with their SEO. The moment he told me about the project, I fell in love with it instantly, and I told him I was on board. And he said great and scheduled to meet with the customer today at 14: 30 (SAST).
The excitement was just too much I was literally in a bubble. So, what I do? I prepped for the interview, I mean I went to my arsenal and got my big guns — guns I haven’t used anywhere. Hello! This is a big and very important project — well at least to me and Craig. So, I wanted to WOW the client.
I wanted to knock her off her heels. Yes, it’s a woman and her name is Naomi Mulgat. And I promised myself that by the time I was done with her, she would no longer want to eat from her plate because she’d be eating at the palm of my hand. I’m telling you; it was going to be her new plate. Imagine they dish her some food on a plate, and you see her reaching for my hand and pour it there and you’d be like, “Naomi, what are you doing?” and she’d be like, “duh! Lunga’s palm is my new plate and it’s quite nice eating there. Wanna try?”
Yep, my preparation was that awesome and don’t blame for blowing my own chimney choo, choo! Guess what else? I wanted to blow Craig off his socks too. He’s my boss and I want him to sing my praises. I immersed myself in the project, shook the tree (her website) until everything fell off including the leaves and left the poor tree naked. You should have seen it. Our meeting/interview was going to be on Google Meet as per my boss’ arrangement.
Now, I might be a Millennial, but I am a punctual one, thanks to my mum. That woman is so punctual if she were to race with the time, she’d beat it even in the afterlife and be named the new time. She is that punctual! At 14:00 I clicked on my Google Meet link and was instantly shipped off the meeting spot. I checked my mic and camera, and everything seemed to be working just fine and ready to kick some project butt.
I waited and at 14:35 Craig called me via WhatsApp and wondered if I was still going to be available for meeting with our customer. “I’m already on Google Meet, Craig”, I said. “Oh, is it? I don’t see you and I’m also there.”, he replied back. I was there even though he didn’t see me, and I didn’t see him. We must have both poked around our PCs or something because suddenly, there we were, I could see them (him and Naomi), and they could see me.
Yay! Or not?
I could hear both of them speaking but they couldn’t hear me. Craig asked me to try removing my headset and see if they could get some audio from me but nothing. To them, only my lips moved but they couldn’t hear a thing. Since Google Meet was not in the mood for some ‘meet’. Craig suggested we move our meeting to Zoom, and I was like, “yes, please let’s Zoom.”
He sent us the links, and at that him and I were also communicating on WhatsApp as he was checking if everything was okay on my side. He sent the link, But I couldn’t find it. I wondered if there was something wrong with my internet connection, so I checked it — I even did the speed test thing just to be sure I was connected and running smooth and fast. I checked my email but there was no link except on WhatsApp. Then aeons later the email link came through and I immediately clicked on it.
Guess what happened?
My Zoom did not feel like zooming and I didn’t get the memo. I tried downloading it quickly on my cell phone, but installation was also in cahoots. I tried deleting some of the apps thinking maybe I don’t have enough memory but no, space was no issue as I had galore. It was just FIRDAY THE 13TH. I asked Craig to give me a cell phone link so I could zoom on the browser, but the browser said in a very slow, tired, and rude tone, “you need to download Zoom first before you can join the meeting.”
Really?
Just like that, the meeting never happened, and I ended up sending both Craig and Naomi an apology email and asked to reschedule. But I felt like death, if I had a gun, I would have asked my mum to shoot me right in the head [joking, laughing]. But yeah, I was disappointed.
So, this brings us to the day and date in question: Friday the 13th.
Did you know that this superstition is as old as time? Ancient actually. Way older than the fossils. This day is often considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. This superstition is a combination of two separate superstitions, one regarding the day of the week (Friday) and the other about the number 13.
1. Fear of Friday: In many Western cultures, Friday has been considered an unlucky day for centuries. This superstition can be traced back to various religious and historical beliefs. For example, in Christian tradition, it is believed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Additionally, Fridays were also associated with bad luck in maritime folklore, as many sailors were superstitious about setting sail on a Friday.
2. Fear of the Number 13: Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. This superstition has a long history and can be traced back to Norse mythology, where there is a story of a banquet in Valhalla attended by 12 gods. Loki, the trickster god, was not invited but crashed the party as the 13th guest. This led to chaos and eventually the death of the beloved god Balder.
When these two superstitions, the fear of Friday and the fear of the number 13, combine, it results in a day that’s seen as particularly unlucky. In fact, some people are so superstitious about this day that they avoid making IMPORTANT DECISIONS, TRAVELING, or TAKING RISKS on Friday the 13th.
GUESS I ALSO SHOULD NOT HAVE AGREED TO DO SUCH AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW ON FRIDAY THE 13TH.
