There is no thirteen

Some days ago I noticed that there is no button thirteen in the control panel of the elevator of my building. The owner, the architect, or someone else should be superstitious. Because of that, an ad hoc control panel was made and the displayer programming was adjusted to jump from 12 to 14. Nevertheless, despite […]

Some days ago I noticed that there is no button thirteen in the control panel of the elevator of my building. The owner, the architect, or someone else should be superstitious. Because of that, an ad hoc control panel was made and the displayer programming was adjusted to jump from 12 to 14. Nevertheless, despite these precautions, the 13th floor still exists.

It is fun to see how numbers, black cats, broken mirrors, stairs, salt, and so on, all of them quotidian elements, turn into malignant for some people, and how curios folkloric remedies survive and new appear to dodge the evil or protect from it.

I am not superstitious but I admit that it is a charming way to contribute to make up mystic stories and, at the same time, keep in mind pieces of our history, which are the origin and the real explanation of these superstitions.

I encourage you to provide your comments about a superstition and its origin.

Control panel of the elevator

Panel control of the elevator