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Skeptics Taunt Bad Luck On 13th
By MELISSA SCOTT SINCLAIR,
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 14, 2001
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Karindy Calcano,14, disregards superstition and walks under a ladder
at Ocean View Beach Park on Friday the 13th. |
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It's Friday the 13th, the poster proclaimed.
"Break a mirror. Walk under a ladder. Stab a voodoo doll."
"We're not scared!"
Men with a mission picked a fight with superstition yesterday at Ocean View Beach Park, as members of the group, Science and Reason, challanged concert-goers to wreak some paranormal havoc.
As the Fat Ammons Band played for the weekly public beach party, Larry Weinstein, physics professor at Old Dominion University, watched youngsters shatter small mirrors with a hammer.
"Well done", he said, smiling. "Good shot".
The group organized its "Superstition Celebration to bring the public's attention to the prevalence of irrational thought, Weinstein said.
Some participants gleefully smashed glass, but their faith in Friday 13th bad luck was unbreakable.
"My hamster died on that day", said 7-year-old Connie Duarte. "And our dog, too".
Katie Crabb, also 7, chimed in. "I got a cut on my nose and a crab pinched my foot", she said, pointing to the evidence.
And her brother, 8 -year-old Jamie, added, "I was running to the lunch table and my ankle bracelet flew into beads".
Incontrovertible proof, in Connie's opinion, that, "It is an unlucky day".
According to Weinstein, people, especially adults, seize on superstitionsas an explanation for misfortune in a complicated world. Few grown-ups had joined the children in breaking mirrors, he said, saying they'd rather not invite bad luck.
"It's not the bad luck I worry about. It's the broken glass", Weinstein said as he watched to make sure the children put on glittery safety goggles before smashing the plastic-wrapped mirrors.
His own son, Lee, 10, had just crushed his second mirror -- for 14 years of bad luck, he said -- and was twirling a voodoo doll by a skewer through its eye.
The group passed out flyers explaining the origins of common superstitions, hoping to shake people out of misconceptions.
But some still refused to test fate.
Amanda Hill, 13, wanted her friend to walk under a ladder. "C'mon", she said. "Just do it, Karindy".
Karindy Calcano, 14, looked at Amanda's sister. "Ashley, you do something".
But Ashley Hill, 11, decided to play it safe. "I will do something", she said.
"Tomorrow"!
Reach Melissa Scott Sinclair at 222-5210 or at msinclair@pilotonline.com
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