After a week or so of rain and high winds I wasn’t surprised that maintenance crews were out working on the power lines. About twenty years ago there was an ice storm in Nashville and it was so bad experts came here from around the country to help with the cleanup, and they were shocked that Nashville’s electrical grid was, in their opinion, decades out of date. Fortunately we haven’t had another ice storm like that because if experts came from around the country to help with the cleanup they’d find the grid was decades plus about twenty years out of date, but that’s another story.
Anyway I was surprised to see a maintenance guy right in the middle of my way home from the bus. If I had known he’d be there I would have stayed on the other side of the road or taken an alternate route, but, as it was, I was pretty much stuck either backtracking or, well, my other options were walking out into the street to get around him or walking directly under the bucket he was standing in. While the former wasn’t great the latter was worse, and you know what they say about it being bad luck to walk under a latter. Also it’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. There are a lot of superstitions that don’t make sense to me. For instance it’s supposed to be bad luck if a black cat crosses your path, but I like cats in any color, and cats, I think, are good judges of character, so if a cat is willing to walk in front of me that makes me feel pretty good. Seeing crows perched on the roof of a house is also supposed to be bad luck, but I like crows too, and I know they’re pretty smart birds, so if they’re perched on a house they must like the people who work there. Vultures are also smart birds, by the way. One day, when I was taking an alternate route home, I heard a “Woof!” and thought it was a dog and looked over at a yard that had about a million vultures in it, or at least nine, and, by the way, black vultures sound like dogs barking which I think is hilarious. People often see them as harbingers of death because they feast on carrion but really it’s the other way around. I didn’t want to think about what had died in someone’s front yard that attracted so many vultures, but seeing them did make me laugh, so that was a good day.
Anyway of course walking under a ladder is bad luck because so many things can go wrong if you walk under a ladder. That’s like saying “stepping out into traffic is bad luck”. And what I’m getting at here is I decided to step out into traffic to go around the maintenance guy. It could have been unlucky buy nothing happened, and I feel pretty good about that.
“bad luck to walk under a latter” Bwahaha!!
Kristine Laco recently posted…My Mocha Whip Introduction to Writing Humour
One of the joys of writing, as I’m sure you know, is that sometimes The Muse hands us these gifts.
Vultures are amazing. I dressed as one for Halloween once. Like, eight years ago. It was fun.
I’m not especially superstitious, but I don’t walk under ladders, etc. because I used to be an OSHA compliance instructor… had to set a good example, and whatnot.
Out of respect for Gary Larson, who’s requested that people not share Far Side comics online, I won’t repost it, but one of my favorites of his is the one with the caption “Look at me! I’m a cowboy! Howdy, howdy, howdy.” They really are amazing, and funny. If there’s a bird that has a sense of humor I’m pretty sure it’s the vulture.
Is a bucket a ladder? Technically, I think you would have been OK superstition-wise, but maybe not safety standards-wise. Also, we had a black cat for years and she regularly crossed my path, so maybe it’s just “strange” black cats who cause all the problems!
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Technically I might have been okay, although I think the bucket itself would be less of a threat than the crane attached to it. Anyway I don’t think black cats cause any trouble. People who don’t like cats are the ones who worry me.
Loved the music video, but that’s another story!
I seriously thought about “Bad Moon Rising” but somehow “Lookin’ Out My Backdoor” seemed more fitting. Either way, though, you can’t go wrong with Credence–unless you’re listening to “The Midnight Special” and Dan Aykroyd is in the passenger seat.
I feel pretty good too, Chris. Good luck to all of us.
As long as we’re all in it together I think we’re lucky to have each other.