Superstition

It has always amazed te amount of superstition alive in Western culture.
I see people genuflect all of the time.
Sorry, but making the sign of the "cross", accomplishes nothing!
It is nice that people are traditional enough to cross themselves,
But there is NO blessing or protection which will arise out of it.
God is not somehow going to perform for you.
Sorry, if you think otherwise.

But, the same goes with:
Not opening an umbrella indoors
Not walking under a ladder
Not letting a black cat cross your path
Throwing salt over your shoulder
Even saying, "Rabbit, rabbit" on the first of the month for luck
etcetera ad nauseam!

I was real bored one fall and wrote a small book of all of the quirky things people do to either bring them luck or "protection" from what-ever.
When I shared it with my friends, it brought gales of laughter!
Because people can be quite humorous in their daily rituals.
And, as one of the group, started reading the list - we could all envision ourselves or others easily doing most of them!
So, through the years, that humorous lesson has not gone unforgotten.

Swede decided to retire officially this week!
In actuality, he retired in June of 2010!
But, he is wealthy and I doubt he needed the money.

So, he walks in yesterday and announced he was committing suicide.
Everyone looked up at him quizzically.
"Yeah, I applied for my retirement....."
"I decided to follow both my grandfather and father to the grave!"
Everyone stared at me as I burst out laughing ....

You see, both Swede's grandfather and father died immediately after retiring.
His father died with his first retirement check in his pocket!
And Swede's retirement should come to a sweet sum:
From his work for NASA
His work for the US military
Plus another 30 years in military aircraft design and certification.

Yeah, he will do well.

Everyone laughed when I explained the joke.
Swede, not so much though.
It troubles him.
But he assured me over dinner, it is just a nagging thought - not superstition!
Then again, we will find out in a few months!

LOL!