Are You Superstitious?

When you spill salt, do you throw a pinch over your shoulder? If a black cat crosses your path, do you (even if it is only for a second) think about the old adage about 'bad luck'? Will you walk under a ladder? Do you have a lucky shirt or jersey that you wear on game day?

I do not consider myself superstitious. However …

Ever since I was a young boy, I was told, "Bad things happen in threes." Even as an adult, almost every time a plane crashes it seems that someone mentions "the threes." Sure enough, the next crash just seems to confirm the superstition.

A little while back, a friend with Kennedy's Disease called. He mentioned he fell a couple of days ago and had broken two toes. A week earlier when we talked, he had mentioned that he fell twice during their garage sale. (Is this "the threes" again?) 

His call prompted me to think about the "threes" in my life. For twelve years, I have documented my falls (date, time, place, what happened, and any injury). The spreadsheet has been helpful when discussing issues with my neurologist and useful in documenting my disability. During that twelve-year period, I fell forty-nine times and six of the falls resulted in the breaking of one or more bones. And, as much as I do not want to believe it, it sure seems coincidental that several of my falls happened in groups of three.

Trying to apply some logic to this, I am considering the idea that the trauma caused by an earlier fall might weaken the legs enough to make you more susceptible to another fall shortly thereafter. Perhaps that is why the third fall in a relatively short period usually results in an injury.

What about your experiences? Does "the threes" enter into any of your falls?