Who, seeing a black cat crossing the street, has never hesitated? I don't think it brings bad luck, but you never know. In these days of isolation, I wondered if there could be a superstitious gesture to ward off a virus, well I found it: an unpeeled clove of garlic under the pillow for at least three days keeps infectious diseases away. A hogwash? Very likely, but what does it cost to try? After all, some more, some less, each of us is a bit superstitious and in a moment like this it is nice to be able to believe in something that gives us more security.
The world is full of "popular beliefs" of all kinds, and you know, country you go, customs you grim. But if some superstitions seem more familiar to you, such as breaking a mirror, others are really very bizarre.
In Vietnam, students do not eat bananas before an exam to avoid bad grades, or rather "slips". In fact, the banana is considered a slippery fruit and in the local language the verb "slip" is the same used to say "fail". In China, never cut spaghetti with chopsticks: noodles and their length symbolize the course of life and cutting one is seen as an ominous gesture. In our latitudes, on the other hand, crushing excrement along the road brings a lot of luck, but be careful, only if done with the left foot.
In short, taken lightly these superstitions can make you smile. I have always tried to believe little, or in any case to rely on the positive ones. In fact, I don't think that an event happens out of causality but rather out of chance. Surely there will be a splendid Friday the 13th and a horrible day that you will not be able to lift even running through a field of cows, or maybe you will? If we stay positive, it's probably not true, but we can still believe it.
