Yorkregion.com - Columns - Winged signs of bad luck
Winged signs of bad luck
Rita Butt
Columns
Apr 15, 2008 12:42 AM
By: Rita Butt
One morning last week, my Old Fellow hollered out, “My Dear, you won’t believe this, but there is a bird in the bathroom.”
I must say this news was somewhat startling as neither of us remembered letting any flying thing in, even when we were busy letting the dogs out into the back yard.
Because I am utterly useless in any situation requiring common sense, I watched the Old Fellow do his thing.
It was a fairly large bird, maybe a starling and he managed to throw a towel over it, pick it up gently and take it to the back door where it flew away, much to its relief and ours.
This brought to mind the adage, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.
This is a conundrum I will have to ponder. Maybe he should have kept the bird in his hand indefinitely.
I know you are all familiar with the old wives’ tales warning “a bird in the house is a sign of great disaster” and I knew it was time to start worrying.
Once, when I was working in a very large office, a bird flew in and circled around all afternoon.
Word went around of coming tragedy. Wouldn’t you know, the next day our manager was fired.
Even the no-nonsense group was puzzled by this.
Quite often, I see birds flying in the mall. Surely if you let a bird in with you, this might not surprise you, but who ever did that?
The birds must be very quick and very accurate to buzz through the space in the time the two sets of doors are open.
If these mall birds are any indication of disaster, at least the troubles would be widespread and not necessarily your particular worry.
What happens to these birds, I don’t know. One day they are flitting around and the next day they are gone.
About old wives’ tales, my generation was enlightened and never believed superstitions.
At the same time, we made certain not to tempt fate and walk under any ladders and kept away from any hazards and consequences of dire prophecies.
Of course, some sayings were heartening. How about,“Find a cent and pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck”?
I always pick up every cent I see. I remember when you could get four pieces of candy or two wads of bubble gum for a penny.
Now they are thinking of no longer minting pennies, so there goes that bit of luck. In any case, save yourselves a lot of worry and watch out for birds trying to get into your bathroom.