Silly Superstitions

If you're Asian, then I'm sure your parents have told you some superstitious tales more than once. I find some of them rather ridiculous.

"If you shake your leg to much, you'll lose money."
First of all, I'm not carrying any change on me. And my wallet is wedged between my arse and the seat. So it's highly unlikely that I'll be experiencing some financial hardships anytime soon.

"Never flip over a fish after eating all the meat on the top."
...especially on a boat. To flip over the fish means to capsize, and we wouldn't want that to happen would we. This poses quite a problem to us. How do we get to the meat on the bottom with the spine in the way? They say remove the bone. However, if we use the same illogical logic they applied to flipping the fish, then that would mean that we're ripping off the entire top part of the boat, which would be an undesirable outcome as well.

"Clipping your nails at night is bad luck; you'll be visited by a ghost."
I have my reasons why I clip my nails at night. At night is when I take a shower; which softens my nails so that they're easier to clip. You know that funny feeling you get after clipping your nails? Well, I have a whole night to get used to it. Also, I don't have the time to clip my nails in the morning. There's such a thing as school.

"Wearing a mustache is bad luck."
This is quite interesting, as it shows how much of a hypocrite the ancient Chinese were. If you have ever watched an ancient Chinese Drama, you'll notice that a lot of the men have mustaches. Really long, white wispy mustaches, also known as a Fu Manchu mustache. Sometimes, they even have sideburns. On the other hand, they are quite right. Look what happened to Hitler and Prime Minister Tojo of Japan (World War II). Stalin had one too. Women with mustaches probably aren't doing to well either.

"The dining area should not be under the second floor toilet."
About time for one that's actually logical. I wouldn't want anything from yesterday's dinner dripping onto my dinner.

For those most Chinese superstitious, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to do important things. The Almanac would tell you that if the day is a good day or bad day to have a funeral, sweep the graves of ancestors, worship the dead or move an ancestor's grave; start construction, move into a new house, visit friends or even travel north; get a haircut or cultivate plants and so on. The fact: if you follow ALL the "traditions", you will get nowhere!

I don't recall ever reading whether it was a good day to have a funeral in an Almanac, not that I read a lot of them. But I do agree that if you follow all the traditions, or even some, you will get nowhere.

Last three superstitions and quoted paragraph provided by Chinatown Connection.