Multicultural Manners : Numbers Count More to Some

The high school graduation ceremony has just ended. Excitement and jubilation fill the air. Cameras flash as parents and students proudly record the moment.

Alan, who is white, Maria, a Latina, and Pau, a Chinese student, have become close friends during their school years and want to mark this moment of friendship and achievement. They gather together to take a picture, but as soon as Maria steps in between Alan and Pau, Pau’s parents shout, “No!”

What went wrong?

Many traditional Chinese people believe an uneven number of people in a photograph brings bad luck. To have three people is of greater consequence as they believe the person in the middle will die.

The reaction of Pau’s parents bewildered Alan and Maria, but after Pau explained their belief, Maria apologized and stepped out of the picture. Pau’s parents felt relieved and happy. Although this belief seemed strange to them, Maria and Alan accepted it out of respect for their friend. As a result, they took turns stepping in and out of the shot until they each had pictures with one another.

Relating even or uneven numbers with death is also seen elsewhere. Armenians from Yerevan believe that giving an even number of flowers brings bad luck because even numbers are linked with death and funeral rituals that require an even number of candles and flowers. Consequently, on happy occasions, Armenians only give an uneven number of flowers.

Rule: Different cultures associate bad luck and death with specific numbers or number sequences.

Norine Dresser is a folklorist and author of “I Felt Like I Was From Another Planet,” (Addison Wesley). Tell her your experiences c/o Voices.