BLOG: Would you be scared if this happened to you?

By JO ABI

Earlier this week while I was driving my kids to pre-school, the biggest, blackest cat I’ve ever seen in my life ran across my path.

We were in a residential area so I was driving slowly. The cat had time to stop, look directly into my eyes with his or her vividly green eyes before continuing its fateful journey across my path.

Now, I’m not superstitious, but it has SERIOUSLY FREAKED ME OUT.

The older I get the more scared I am that bad things are going to happen. When I was younger it was so different. I wasn’t scared of death at all. I used to laugh when my boyfriend walked around ladders to avoid walking under them in an effort to avoid bad luck. I used to deliberately walk under them to show him how harmless it was.

But something about this particular superstitious encounter has thoroughly spooked me.

Is there anything I can do to ward off evil spirits?

I keep trying to shake the unsettled feeling off but the movie Final Destination (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) keeps popping into my head. They escape death but death finds them anyway. There is no way they can escape their destiny. It’s so creepy.

I told my husband about it and after he stopped laughing at me he made an excellent point. He said the cat actually ran across the path of the car. He has predicted that my car is going to break down and I might have to go car shopping.

Hmmm…do you think he might have been making fun of me?

I’m not superstitious, but I always hesitate to use the number 13. I don’t mind using it if numbers come after it but I don’t ever stop at 13. I’ve never bought 13 of anything or made a ‘To Do’ list made up of 13 tasks.

I don’t throw spilled salt over my left shoulder. (I’d just have to clean it up later – talk about bad luck).

I believe in karma more than anything. I believe in paying it forward. I believe in good deeds.

But the cat, the cat – why has it affected me so much?

You should have seen it. It was a big, muscular cat. It was totally black. There were no cute white or brown spots on it. Its eyes weren’t just green, they were GREEN.

It looked like a witches cat from storybooks I’ve read as a child. This cat could make a fortune in Hollywood.

When it looked into directly into my eyes it was as though it was saying, “Watch out” or “Gotcha” or “You’re fucked”.

I might just stay home for the rest of the day. It’s wet and slippery. I could easily have a car accident. It’s cold. I might get pneumonia.

So much can go wrong.

I used to be Catholic. Technically I still am but so much of it seems out-dated to me that I know longer know how to function as a Catholic in the modern world. I used to find religion so comforting. God was looking out for me. If something bad happened God would take care of me. He’d comfort me and give me strength.

But now, I’m on my own. I’m all alone, and that cat knew it.

I’ll cross my fingers that nothing bad will happen (actually I’ll only cross the fingers of one hand because I think crossing both is bad luck too).

Am I totally off my rocker?

Are superstitions even real?

Are you superstitious?