NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Well, it's not the scariest day of the year, but for the superstitious, Friday the 13th is enough to keep you on your toes. One place is proving it doesn't have to be unlucky at all.
I wanted to know. Why do we think Friday the 13th is such an unlucky day? So, I turned to the experts: random people walking around downtown Nashville.
Watch all the opinions about this day and see one lucky cat in the player above.
"Why do we think that?" one mom with her kids thought aloud.
"Cause it's superstition!" one of her kids chimed in.
"Maybe Friday's a good day, but 13's a bad number," the mom said. "I don't know!"
"We don't really know, actually," smiled one man visiting Nashville. "It doesn't bother me at all!"
"13 is my lucky number!" said one woman.
"But my brother is getting married on Friday the 13th, and that may not be lucky!" added a man with her.
This perception that Friday the 13th is somehow unlucky has been around a long time, a lot longer than a movie series about a maniac running around in the woods.
I asked Sara Whittemore over at Nashville Humane Association.
"Friday the 13th became unlucky because it's said that's when the Knights Templar fell in 1307," she said, giving one theory.
"Random facts that stick in your mind from elementary school!" Sara laughed.
Nashville Humane zeroed in on the superstition of the day. Just for Friday the 13th, they offered half-off adoptions for animals with black fur.
"Even if they have the slightest bit of black, we are qualifying them because they have been patiently waiting for their forever homes," Sara said. "Our little black fur babies, they tend to get overlooked. They tend to just disappear within the shelter system just because of their fur color. We decided to play into [Friday the 13th] and put a fun little spin on it. They are going to find their forever home today!"
"I just saw his face and his energy, I just fell in love with him!" said Lane Kavanaugh, coming in to adopt black fur dog Franklin.
"You're great, aren't you?" Lane asked as he patted Franklin on the back.
What a lucky, lucky day.
If you missed the Friday the 13th adoption event, don't worry. Nashville Humane has many upcoming events you can find here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
