John Sessoms wrote: >Walking under a ladder isn't myth or superstition. It's just plain >unsafe. It got that reputation back in the middle ages during the >construction of the great cathedrals ... for the same reason it's unsafe >today. > >Walk under a ladder, and you might disturb the guy up on the ladder. He >might fall off or he might drop something on you. And if he happens to >be a hod carrier for stone masons, what he drops ain't gonna do you much >good, even if you're wearing a hard hat, which they didn't back in those >days. > >
Well a lot of myths and superstitions came about that way. While it is, of course, unwise to walk under a ladder in many situations, the superstition is that it it is "unlucky" LIke breaking a mirror is dangerous - saying it was 7 years bad luck to a little kid might make them more careful than "you _might_ get hurt" Dangerous to youngsters is as often a provocation or an enticement or a promise of adventure :) ann (adventurous when young) > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
