For cutting out the thirteenth floor.
There are many superstitions in modern civilization. We have black cats to watch out for, ladders to avoid walking under, umbrellas we pray won’t open indoors, and mirrors we are cautious not to break. But come on… picking on a poor little prime number seems like a bit much. Thirteen didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t bothering anyone when it sat happy and cozy between its little sis and big bro, twelve and fourteen. Then, one day, they stopped putting a thirteenth floor in all high-rise building WTF? How would you feel if someone took out your thirteenth vertebra? Paralyzed, that’s how. Let’s grow up and put that thirteenth button back in elevators.
Your superstitions are ruining it for everyone and yourself. Get over your phobia—and enjoy thirteen things that are great about the number 13:
I. There are thirteen new moons in a year. That’s pretty good, right?
II. Women have thirteen chances to get pregnant each year.
III. There were thirteen original colonies in the United States. You like freedom, don’t you?
IV. Thirteen years old is the start of manhood. There’s nothing unlucky about getting lucky.
V. Dan Marino wore No. 13. Remember, Dan’s the man.
VI. Thirteen doughnuts are in a baker’s dozen; twelve to a dozen is just so “carton of eggs.”
VII. The top-rated album of all time, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, has thirteen songs.
VIII. Thirteen people attended the Last Supper. Twelve’s company, but thirteen’s a da Vinci painting.
IX. The PG-13 rating. You can see some nudity AND hear the F-bomb in a movie.
X. Michael Jordan’s shoe size is 13. Not exactly bad fortune there!
XI. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust and it’s No. 13 on the periodic table.
XII. On the U.S. dollar bill, there are thirteen levels on the pyramid, thirteen arrows, thirteen stars, thirteen leaves, and thirteen olives. Is it no longer lucky to win a million of them?
XIII. Last but not least, someone’s mom’s birthday was on Friday the 13th. And moms are good.
Now that you’re convinced the number 13 is no longer bad, here’s a few hotels with a thirteenth floor for you to visit: Embassy Suites in Tampa, Florida; the International Palace Hotel in Recife, Brazil; and the Sè Hotel in San Diego, California. (I am sure the word “die” found in “San Diego” is just a coincidence.)