Commercial Building and Business Superstition for Friday the 13th

Today is Friday the 13th, a strange and superstitious filled holiday that only comes a few times a year. Many people believe bad luck is more pervasive on this day and take extra precautions to make their day luckier. To celebrate, Todco Mechanical has decided to protect our commercial business friends from bad luck by listing building and business superstition for Friday the 13th.

Ring A Bell to Remove Stagnation

The Tibetan belief is that rooms become stagnant due to dying chi. Their solution is to ring a bell that will clear the space of the bad feng shui. As an HVAC company, we believe it is better to have a properly working air conditioning or heating system that improves the indoor air quality.

Do Not Include Stairs in Increments of Six

Originating from the Philippines, a common business superstition is the number of stairs you have in your commercial building. People in the Philippines would count the steps as they were building saying “oro, plata, mata” as they went. Oro means gold, plata means silver, and mata means death. If you landed on the third step in the succession it meant death. Therefore stairs are never created in sets of three. There are businesses who follow this rule by avoiding steps in sets of three.

Paint the Front of Your Building Haint Blue

The color “haint” blue is an old American superstitious belief that was pervasive in the South. It Is said that spirits cannot cross water, so painting the front of your business blue will trick spirits into thinking there is a body of water in front of them. This prevents bad spirits from entering your place of business and wreaking havoc.

The Most Common Business Superstition – The 13th Floor

The most common business superstition is easily the one about the 13th floor. Since the number 13 is considered an unlucky and evil number in Western culture, most businesses will skip the 13th floor in an elevator. Some buildings take it so far as to use the 13th floor for storage with no way to get there besides taking the stairs from the 12th or 14th floor while others simply skip it on their buttons, making the 14th floor the literal 13th floor. Most new businesses are foregoing this superstition, but there are still a few that will not let it go.

Other Business Superstition Practices

There are a few other random superstitions that many businesses follow to keep their luck strong!

• Enter your office on the right foot.
• Eat peppermints to boost memory and focus.
• New businesses must open on Thursdays for success.
• Do not whistle indoors, per Russian superstition that you are whistling your money away.