It's Tuesday the 13th? Yikes!
Churchy LaFemme, the mud turtle who was one of the principal characters in cartoonist Walt Kelly‘s satirical comic strip Pogo (1948-1975), was as superstitious as a summer day is long — so much so that he would panic whenever he discovered that: “Friday the 13th come on a Tuesday this month!” (Or on any other day of the week, for that matter).
As it turns out, though, for Latinos Friday the 13th does come on a Tuesday, because in Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday — not Friday — the 13th is traditionally considered to be the day of bad luck.
Do you see the problem?
People in Latin America are forced to face the purported hazards of Tuesday — though not Friday — the 13th, while non-Hispanic folks in the U.S. and Canada need to navigate the perils of Friday — though not Tuesday — the 13th.
We bicultural U.S. Hispanics, however, must contend with both.
So, you know, yikes!
