See a Penny, Pick it Up

All day long, you'll have good luck. I've lived by that rule for many, many years. Then one day, the penny in question was really filthy and I re-evaluated my belief system. I decided that while such a benign irrational belief system was generally harmless, who knew where that penny had been or where any penny on the ground had been and decided to break with irrationality.

I saw the brightest, shiniest new penny on the ground yesterday. I wanted to pick it up and have good luck, but I wouldn't allow myself to backslide into irrationality. It was so shiny. I did not pick it up. Shortly thereafter I had such a headache. I couldn't get anything done at work and I couldn't even stay at the PTA meeting that night. I thought eating might help--ouch, I was so full my stomach hurt, too. The pain that must be endured to overcome irrational belief systems. I'm not making much progress here.