Facing Our Fear Of The Number 13

We’re all familiar with the notion that the number 13 is unlucky. But why is it unlucky?

One basis for the fear of 13 comes from Christianity.

There were 13 guests at the Last Supper. Then Jesus was betrayed.

There are numerous other plausible explanations, as my Internet research showed, but exploring the origin of this superstition could take an entire column, if not an entire day.

Nevertheless, it’s clear that 13 does not deserve the bad rap that it gets. This is a number that could use a good public-relations fi rm.

There’s even a word - triskaidekaphobia - to describe fear of thenumber 13.

One of our former presidents reportedly had this very phobia. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who once declared that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” evidently feared the number 13. According to journalist and biographer John Gunther, FDR hated Friday the 13th and disliked sitting down with 13 people at dinner. Actually, he diedduring his 13th year in off ce, so maybe his fear wasn’t completely irrational.

Which reminds me, I’m in the 13th year of my journalism career. Uh oh.

Evidence of our society’s triskaidekaphobia is all around us. There are skyscrapers that have no 13th fl oors, airplanes that lack 13th rows. Santa Anita Park, a thoroughbred racetrack in California, has a stall 12, a stall 12A, then a stall 14.

Also, I suspect there are many couples who purposely have avoided tying the knot on a 13th of the month.

Personally, I got married on a 12th, but I would not have thought twice about getting married one day later.

We’ve got a Friday the 13th coming up this week. It’s the second of three Fridaythe 13ths this year. That’s unusual. Combine that with the fact that we are coming up on the 13th year of this century, and this is a really bad time for those who cower at the number.

There are those, however, who laugh in the face of triskaidekaphobia. Alex Rodriguez, star slugger for the New York Yankees, wears No. 13 on his back.

So did football great Dan Marino and basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain.

Megadeth, the heavy metal band, released an album last year titled “Thirteen.”

In both Washington and Benton counties, the quorum courts - the legislative bodies of our counties - have 13 members. Because both counties recently met the legislatively set thresholdof 200,000 residents, their quorum courts are set to expand from 13 to 15 members starting next year.

Why do our quorum courts need 15 people? I still think 13 is too many. Our counties would do just fi ne with fewer than half that number. Remember, these politicians make hundreds of dollars per meeting.

With all due respect to those who competently fill these positions, I don’t see the need for more justices of the peace based on an arbitrary threshold.

Do you think it would be smart to increase the size of Congress every time the U.S. population rose to a certain level? Washington would be an even bigger mess than it is now.

Even with 13 people onboth quorum courts, how many people really know what a justice of the peace does?

Arkansas needs to reduce the number of justices of the peace. Then it needs to stop calling them justices of the peace.

OK, I’ve digressed a bit, but it was worth it to take another swat at a quirk of our state’s political composition.

Just remember, 13 is nothing to be afraid of - unless, perhaps, you have a child who’s about to turn that age.

If that’s the case, I wish you all the luck in the world.

DAVE PEROZEK IS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NEWSPAPERS.