The last Friday the 13th of the year is here, and while many people have some reservations about the “supernatural” aspect of this day, some members of Eastern’s community offered some of their opinions about it.

Everyone knows that Friday the 13th usually offers some type bad luck for everyone on that day, but there are also some people who do not believe in this idea.

Melinda Mueller, a political science professor, said she does not believe in the bad luck idea that usually follows Friday the 13^th.

“I’m not really terribly superstitious,” Mueller said.

Mueller said that while she herself is not a superstitious person, she believe people have their various reasons as to why they believe in Friday the 13th.

“My grandmother, she was really superstitious about Friday the 13^th because her husband died on a Friday the 13^th, and very unexpectedly,” Mueller said. “She was already really superstitious about that, and I respected that she had a horrible thing happen and made that contact.”

Mueller said besides that, she never really took Friday the 13th very seriously anyway.

“If someone wants to be superstitious, I can respect that they might have some reasons for that,” Mueller said. “I think there is good luck and bad luck, but I don’t think it’s necessarily forces working against you or for you in some systematic way. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.”

Melanie King, a junior psychology major, said she was not too sure about the whole story behind this feared date, or why people have are afraid of it.

“I don’t know, maybe they’re afraid of the movie. That’s my only basis of Friday the 13th,” King said. “If they believe it, they believe it.”

King said she does believe in both good and bad luck but she doesn’t really know any scary superstitions.

“Hope for the best, that’s about all,” King said. “I don’t really have any good luck or bad luck strategies.”

Jacob Henderson, a sophomore management information systems major, said he doesn’t get why some people are scared of Friday the 13th.

“I don’t believe in it. I honestly do not believe in it,” Henderson said. “Friday the 13th happens not very often, but it happen and nothing really bad happens on that day.”

Jake said he believes all of the belief behind Friday the 13^th is just a superstition.

“I believe in (good luck and bad luck) in a sense, but not like strongly,” Henderson said. “You get what you put into anything you do.”

Jonell DePetro, the chair for the philosophy department, said she doesn’t pay Friday the 13^th any mind unless she is writing the date.

“I read online that in Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday the 13th is considered unlucky and in Italy is Friday the 17^th,” DePetro said.  “I guess I don’t really think that people fear Friday the 13th as much as they use it to explain things they don’t like and can’t control.”

DePetro also said the fear of the date may have something to due with the number of bad things that happen to people when it is Friday the 13th.

“We don’t like bad things to happen to us or to those we care about, so if those things occur on Friday the 13th, we can blame the date,” DePetro said. “But this is only true, it seems to me, of trivial things. We wouldn’t blame something serious like a car accident or a death of someone close to us on the date. And, next day, Saturday the 14th, the Friday the 13th superstition is gone, forgotten until the next one – not something we dwell on.”

Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu