Dear LPG, 

I came across a bit of online information that might be of interest to some of the readers of these pages.  

Did you know that one of the most widespread superstitions that we succumb to in the United Kingdom is that of being wary of the 13th day of the month, especially if it happens to fall on a Friday?  According to the internet this only happens 1.7218 times per year and the good news is that there can only be a maximum of three occurrences in any one year.  It happened in 2009 and 2015, and the next three-day event will happen in 2026, but that’s years away yet.

I did some reading up on the subject and we will only have to contend with one such Friday this year, although the bad news is that it will happen this month.  Apparently the alarm bells should start ringing if the first day of the month falls on a Sunday. 

I had no idea that so much research had been done on this topic, although we all know that if you Google anything, someone nearly always has been there before.  

It would also be remiss of me not to mention that the first Friday 13th of any year has been given its own celebration.  The Friday after next will not only be the 13th but it will also be ‘National Blame Someone Else day’.  

Having written all this, I should really let readers know that I do not subscribe to either the superstition or the celebration.  In my world, Friday 13th has usually passed before I realise it happened and, I have always thought that whatever goes wrong in the world on any particular day usually has something to do with me as much as anyone else, but looking it up online made for an interesting hour or so…

WS, Peckham

WS allows us a look at what she found online…

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