Tourists are still superstitious, so in In high-rise hotels, as well as in airplanes, you can find a funny numbering – they lack the 13th, and sometimes the 17th floor, as well as the corresponding row in the plane. However, security experts advise paying attention not to “superstitious” numbers, but to more significant factors, including choosing the floor in the hotel where to rent a room.
A CityRealty study found that a significant number of hotels and other high-rise buildings in the US alone avoid the 13th floor. Only in New York, 91% of buildings “ignore” the 13th floor, because no one wants to live and work on it anyway. Only 55 buildings out of 629 turned out to be “not superstitious”. In most hotels, from the 12th floor, the elevator goes immediately to the 14th.
Experts explain that the number 13 is unlucky in most Western cultures and also has a number of negative connotations, including Judas, who betrayed Jesus by being the 13th person to join the table at the Last Supper. Also, a number of superstitions are associated with the number 17 “because, if considered as the Roman numeral XVII, its anagram VIXI roughly means “my life is over” in Latin.” As a result, airlines such as Ryanair, Air France and Iberia do not have a 13th row, and some airlines do not even have a 17th row – including Lufthansa. And this surprises a lot of tourists.
Security experts, former military and risk experts also advise tourists to pay attention to the floors of accommodation – and not out of superstitious beliefs. “In my opinion, the third floor is the best choice for two security reasons. There are two reasons – most fire escapes rarely rise above the fourth floor. And on the 1st and 2nd floors, it is easy to become a target for intruders,” one expert advised. His colleague also noted as “unsafe” and any last floor – as there is also “no room for maneuver.” Also, just in case, tourists were advised to re-read the number of doors from them to the exit – both regular and emergency, so as not to lose precious time in an emergency.
Recall that there are “forbidden numbers” in the east. In China, for example, the number 4 is similarly feared, and so much so that even the special term “theraphobia” arose – the fear of the number 4, as well as its derivatives – 14, 24, etc. The fact is that the number 4 in China sounds approximately the same as the word “death”. Four is 四 Sì, death is 死亡 Sǐwáng. The difference in spelling and tone of pronunciation for superstitious people does not have much effect. That is why many Chinese airlines do not have row 4 or 14. By the way, the American airline United Airlines Polaris decided to observe all the available superstition – there are no two consecutive rows at once – 13 and 14. But the Russian Aeroflot is not concerned with such trifles, and sells tickets for the 13th row on all liners. Read the details at the link.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “A nutritionist explained why you should eat kiwi with a peel.”