Superstitions: A Kiss for Luck

Some enduring childhood superstitions, compiled from interviews with kids and ex-kids and from “One Potato, Two Potato,” by Mary and Herbert Knapp:

* If you see a car with a burned-out headlight, say “Padiddle” and kiss someone for good luck.

* Don’t make funny faces at a clock striking 12, or your face will grow funny.

* If you step over someone’s legs and don’t go back over them, you will die. Another version has it that the person stepped over is the one who dies.

* When someone gets a crew cut, rub it for luck.

* If you find an eyelash on your face, make a wish and blow on it for luck.

* Praying mantises and ladybugs equal good luck. So does finding a penny heads up.

* Opening an umbrella indoors invites bad luck.

* When you drive under a bridge, cover your head or the bridge will fall.

* At the beginning of the month, if the first thing you say is “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,” you’ll have good luck the rest of the month.

* If you brush your hair during a storm, lightning will hit you.

* When you see a mailman or a red truck, cross your fingers and make a wish. Then keep your fingers crossed until you see a dog, and the wish will come to pass.

* If you smoke marijuana without inhaling, you might become President.