The phone would always ring during a storm 😂

I still remember the phone ringing constantly every time we had a lightning storm. It was usually one loud ding sound and not a full ring.

I still have a landline. It doesn't ring during a lightning storm.

@@irzat4419 inevitably the person calling would ask "you see how bad this storm is??" or "is it just as bad by you??"

@@cocotan6 Because you do not have a mechanical bell inside your phone, like we did back in the 70's and 80's or prior. Those rang because the static charge in the air, during a strike was enough to energize the coil inside the phone, enough to make it ring like a half ring. It was really rare for a strike to pass through the phone line to reach the actual phones. It was just induction into the line from that sudden charged atmosphere. Source: Worked in telecom for 25 years.

username checks out

It's called stupid-stitious.😂

😂😅😂

Good one😂😂😂

😂😂😂😂

Yeah, I've seen the junction boxes blown off as well. Also seen where lightning had run old cast iron pipes. Admittedly, never seen it with copper or the various synthetics, but... And of course, lightning kills air conditioners, heat pumps, water heaters, well pumps, and stoves every year.

It hit out chain link fence and hit a wood handle knife my nana was peeling potatoes with and stuck it in the other wall

These are not just Southern things.

As an electrician, I still use this one. I've seen the horrors lightning can wreck

ALL Old Wives Tales have a basis in truth somewhere. Grandma didn't live that long without knowing a thing or two.

My parents still do !

I just love reliving my childhood with these comments.

It was the longest before I could convince my mama that she didn't have to worry about an electrical storm when she was on her cell phone I said she's not connected to any wires anymore 😂

Still wise if you don't have a surge protector-especially with high tech devices with delicate parts.

I remember being in the country and a storm was brewing. My oldest sister was dating a doctor (we were there for dinner) and he answered his phone (landline) he was shocked and thrown across the room. The same guy had a "sun/shower " area where this small room was just glass and opened to the elements. It was COOL (to me) But.... His whole room caught on fire when lightning hit inside that room! His home was amazing (1988) but holy moly the amount of times he saw these "old folk tales" come alive was just incredible. I liked the man and was sad my sister refused to marry him . He took care of my baby (I had no insurance and very young) as far as check ups and such. Taught me how to deal with colic and how to make her more comfortable. Showed me how to massage and strengthen her little body.

What's the story with that one?

Yes, never give someone a purse or wallet without some money in it

Yup. Heard that one about the wallet, too.

Yes my Polish in laws say and do this

I’ve always put a nickel in a wallet before I’ve lended to someone or gave it as a gift new. Same when I buy my wife a purse or wallet

I know, right?

I totally agree. Me too.

What's the knife one?

Yes!!! Wasn’t born in south but raised in 3 southern states and I learned it, too! Raising my kids in the south with the same truths!😂

Born and raised in the south. What’s with the knife?

I have never heard this one.

@@tuvelat7302 Neither have I.

"Giving someone a knife will cut off the relationship so knives must be sold, not gifted"

I love to give a good knife as a gift, and explain the penny! I don't really believe it, but it is fun and carrys on tradition! LOL!

@@Ech0Sierra Oh, I never heard that one but my husband's grandfather gave him a couple knives at once, and not long after that, their relationship ended 🤔.

That’s what my mom says,when someone dies

My best friend says that same thing!

@@lesilemccravy5172 I just had two family members pass within a couple months of each other and I thought to myself today, it happens in threes, now I'm scared to see who might be next >.

@@waitingforwings6 exactly my aunt died 5 years ago,four years later my nanny died,and then a year later my great uncle her brother died 63,87,and 79,crazy thing is my great uncle died,in the same month as my nanny October 20th and 17th

That's insane

The umbrella thing might even be too much for Matt's psyche to handle.

That one would have got me, the knife didn’t bother me. Only would have just given it back opened, always return it the way it was received. My family used knifes/watches as a change in relationship not a severance of one. Got a knife as a gift at 13 as a change from child to teenager with a greater responsibility and a watch at 18 to signify the change to being responsible for my own time now. Interesting to see this side though.

and a peacock feather

Or wearing a hat indoors, hats on a table, or shoes on a chair.

Opening an umbrella indoors is just plain dumb. Like walking under a ladder. You don't have have it as a superstition to say "Okay, yeah, that's a bad idea."

My great grandma was struck and killed by lightning in the lower part of WV in the 50s.

Yep

Northeast, upstate NY, and we said all of these.

We just had to get rid of one of our big pine trees because it had been struck one too many times and was starting to lean towards the house. The second one has been struck more times than the first, but it's still standing tall. I'm obviously very careful around lightning, but I know enough to know what not to do and still feel safe. Tornadoes? I could know every existing fact known about tornadoes, and it wouldn't be enough for me to feel safe around them. I'll watch lightning or a hurricane from the back porch, but the second there's a twister watch, not even a warning, I've got the innermost closet stocked with a week of supplies for the humans and the cats (in case the house collapses around us) and all of the cats are in there with me with the big crate ready to be deployed. My mom thinks I'm crazy until the watch turns into a warning. Then she comes in too, lmao. I had a tornado pass within half a mile of my car while I was stuck on a backroad because of fallen trees. The sky was green, and I've never felt safe around tornadoes since. 😂 My therapist doesn't even care about that fear because he says it's not irrational. He grew up in Kansas, and he says being terrified of tornadoes is the only right response.

@@wolfoftheages That sounds about right. Fear is definitely a great emotion to have. Imagine not being afraid a tornado and going in for a nice big lacerating hug lol.

Because they didn’t listen to the old wives😂😂😂

The "old husbands" are not stupid.

Cause they died going outside to check on the thunderstorm or tornado……

Women have a bigger tendency to gossip and let their imaginations run wild on them. In 1996 (pre-cell phone), I was chatting w my close friend after work. We talked about his personal life in the office, down the hall, and out into the parking lot. Once in our separate cars, the convo would end. So we stood there talking for an hour or more. When I finally got home, wife was crying and ready to call the police in panic that I died in the 2 miles between the office and our townhouse because I was late getting home from work. Today, my cell phone lets her get a hold of me so I can calm her fears, if not allay her annoyance when I get to talking for "too long".

Because the wives were the ones telling the tales 😊

Social Anxiety is best shared with friends. And enemies. And anyone else nearby.

Now that explains a lot because I’m a Midwesterner.

?

Yep, he caught it 😂😂🤞

How do you catch light weight medieval armor?

An owl lived in our neigbor's yard and I asked my husband to investigate just to make sure it wasn't going on about us!😂

I heard you were only in trouble if the owl "called your name".

😂

Good one!😂

I just heard that earlier this week, for the county just west of mine.

Mr James Spann will tell you the roads and businesses in the area of the tornado, best weatherperson ever

If you're in Alabama James Spann on 3340 will tell you if you're on "such and so" Road you better be in your safe place. That man has three phases. He comes in with his jacket buttoned up if things start getting hairy like thunderstorms he rolls up his if things start getting hairy like thunderstorms he rolls up his sleeves if things start getting hairy like thunderstorms he takes off his jacket. But when he rolls up his sleeves you know the crap fixing to hit the fan somewhere in Alabama and he will nail it right down to the street level.

@@crimsondynasty6884 and when he takes his suspenders off his shoulder we are all F-ed!!

Oh gosh yes! That panicky weather man yelling to “ get to shelter NOW! Tornado spotted on the ground! “ I swear I have PTSD from that!

Lord I miss my grandma's feather mattress!

@@jenniferwagoner3134 Me too! And my Grandma.

My grandma’s bed was so fluffy you literally had to climb the side to get in bed, then you would sink down almost a foot deep into it. God I miss that! 😢😅

@@NanaBren I remember that so well. I suppose those memories will die with us. Those beds were the best.

@@jenniferwagoner3134oh my goodness, I do too. Nothing like sleeping in that thing, sinking into it, then ended covered up with about a dozen quilts …..cause grandma thought I might get cold when the fire died down in the wood stove. I thought I’d smother in that thing when I was young! But it will give you a great nights sleep!

Yeeeeeeeep I'm confused about the knife one, probably because no one ever handed me a knife with a folded blade. But the salt one had me bite me lip.

That made me so nervous just watching it. 🤣

@NikkiCox81 Yeah I was on edge for a few moments. 🤣

Am I the only one lost on that particular bit?

@fictionfan0 In the old days it was considered bad luck to close a folding knife that was opened by someone else.

michaelholt8590: My husband and I have a lot of years on you (70's) and we still won't do it. If he hands me his open pocket knife, I hand it back to him the same way. To add to that old superstition, he's afraid that I might cut myself because I do it so often.

Or do dishes. But I think that one came from the fact that EVERYONE'S kitchen sinks, the ones with the metal rims, sat under a window!!

You just don’t put nuthin’ in water that you want to keep.

I’m from East Tennessee in the Appalachian mountains, and there’s lots of beliefs about owls and ravens/ crows. The number of crows or ravens you see had a meaning….and if an owl was in a tree in your yard, crying every night, for three days , then somone in that house would die. Another belief is the number of cries the owl made determined how long it would be before the death. I think the Foxfire Book series listed a bunch of these beliefs. You should read those Foxfire Books, they tell amazing facts and stories about Applachia .

I can’t remember what each number of crows signified. I need to look it up! ❤️

The not showering or doing dishes or anything water related during a Lighting Storm is totally real. The CDC has the risk listed on their website

The duplex next door got hit by lightning when we were living in Virginia. that CRACK sound you just never forget. it knocked all the pictures off their wall!

Lighting will still hit the house. The purpose of the ground rod is to direct the strike far enough into the ground below you that it discharges safely undergound. Thus the term "grounding"

I'm 58 and I still try not to step on a crack (go listen to "House on fire" by Kansas)

We do the umbrella thing In Germany too 😅 Is the salt for keeping off evil?

EIGHT years?? All this time I had only heard *seven* for a broken mirror. Damn inflation coming for our closely held irrational beliefs!!

Yep, I heard 7, but they charge extra for everything nowadays!

I was brought up it was 7. Maybe inflation has hit bad luck too.

Only seven years, but that's because mirrors used to be only affordable for the wealthy and it could take _years_ to replace one for the everyday person.

From Stevie Wonder: "Thirteen-month-old baby broke the LOOKING GLASS (don't call it mirror), seven years of bad luck, good times in the past. . .

Ya that's deep south and not well known. Never close an open knife that isn't yours. Had he taken the penny, it's different. Matt got that exactly right.

That knife thing was in the Boy scouts as well. When handing someone an open knife. Pinch the blade between your thumb and "trigger"finger. Edge to the outside, handle facing the person your handing the knife to. You don't let the knife go till they have handle in hand, and say THANK YOU.

@@jerrykinnin7941 yea. I knew I remembered being taught that somewhere. That's it. I was also taught this by my Dad about not returning a knife in an altered condition from when you received it.

Honestly though, that's a weekly thing In the spring until summer comes to cook us all.

@@busterkeaton1041 yes, agreed.

Don't forget the pollen

No kidding, I live close to Mayfield and I still get twitchy.

As long as Waffle House is open then there's nothing to worry about. 👍

Me too. 😂

I didn't even know the superstition before this skit. My wife absolutely cannot figure out how to close a locking knife.

@@HariSeldon913 I have one that my ex-boyfriend gave me. I don’t know what he was thinking. I’m a hazard to myself already. I’d damn near cut my hand off trying to close it.

@@GoldenBuddah1972 Is that why he's your ex? 😼

It was just delayed until he walked outside holding metal.

Bugs will crawl in and/or you will lose all your money….

I also terrified my boss (from Georgia) when I (from Florida) set my purse on the floor. I had never heard that one before.

Had an Korean roommate once. She wouldn't sweep near anyone's feet lest they get 'swept away', never to be seen again. Edit: she was SOUTH Korean

the filling the bathtub was always a good idea... when nothing will work at least you can flush!!!

So was I, but those same people had their own superstitions. They just didn't call them that. Staying away from phones and cats during thunderstorms among them. Wind that blows leaves inside out brings rain....But Lord a mercy, do not get caught reading your horoscope.

LOL! My grandma use to tell me that because i was always acting goofy and making dumb faces. Southern Grandma's are just something else.

Don't do yard work in March, that's bad luck. Sitting to close to the TV will make you blind

@@user-sq4qv1ql2q hey we were in California and was told that.. they never lived in the south

You were clearly a good and responsible child 😉

As a kid, I too would sometimes avoid stepping on sidewalk cracks because of the saying, though to me it was more of a game, as I didn't believe it would really have an effect.

Grew up in Nova Scotia and we had our share of superstitions too. Again absolutely no opening an umbrella in a house, if a picture fell off the wall someone was probably going to Die soon and under no circumstances were you allowed to count the cars in a funeral Cortege (I got in Big trouble for doing that once). Plus you had to kiss your thumb if you saw one crow. I'm kinda embarrassed I still do some of these to this day. Just no point in taking chances, you know, right? Love your stuff BTW, Matt.

Yes you had to put a newspaper on the ground never sit on cement directly

My grandpa said that and I didn't know what piles were at the time. I was like, piles of what?

Exactly!

Southern arky, we have twister and hurricane parties when they hit.

That's assuming they come in the daylight... 😅

I'm Texan, and most Texans and southerners consider us different things, but I've been around in the deep south and they do not have storm anxiety. Most of them have the attitude of grisled veterans that don't react unless they hear a siren, and now that those go off for straight-line winds over 60 mph they've started ignoring those, too.

The old Tornado Watch Party.

Probably passed down from the Native American folk-to hear an owl hoot means someone is going to die.

Grandma said if you hear an owl hooting 3 nights it means a death in the family. I love owls, but if I hear one at night, my skin crawls.

Well ya all should come down South for a visit! You might never leave it’s so nice! Great food, friendly people, lots of odd little museums and things to see and do, and in the Deep South, we don’t get the nasty snow and ice that ya all get.

@@teresahiggs4896 Oh I did. Back in August, I stated working for a company down in Columbia South Carolina but I'm remote. My boss had a Christmas party so I flew down for a couple of days. It blew me away how friendly the people are. I visited the office and complete strangers were hugging me and telling me their life story. Went bowling with my coworkers. It was a blast.

I’ve heard both of those too.

@D.M-m.e_The_Matt_Mitchell yes?

That explains why my butt is raw.

That’s just awesome how we believe the same things. I think it’s because Americans ( except for the Native Americans) are all immigrants….Where I grew up in East Tennessee there was a lot of Scottish , Irish and Welsh people who settled there to dig coal from the many coal mines. Where my husband is from in Michigan, it was lots of Cornish people. So I’d bet America has beliefs from all over the world!

oh yeah my Mom would put a shiny penny in any wallet or purse she gifted.. I wondered bout that one!

@@teresahiggs4896 Where in E TN are you from? I was born and bred in Chattanooga.

No windows on the porch, 🤪

It's a superstition in Vietnam too. My mother is Vietnamese and they always have to pay some small change for the gift of a knife.

How would you even know for sure....

The owls as a bad omen iirc is linked to Indigenous American beliefs? Most pagans I know consider owls to be neutral, context is important.

Or whistling past the graveyard.

Yes, we were told lightning was attracted to noise!😅

I was a nurse for 20 years here in Arkansas. I completely believe that death comes in threes. If we had one Code Blue, 2 others followed within a day.

Damn right, my Grandma was from rural Pennsylvania and one thing she always said is bad things come in threes. Statistically speaking it's probably bs but it feels true.

I’ve noticed that deaths now come in 4-6 since baby boomers and generation-x are old. 49 year old gen-x here.

Oh I heard that too! You werent supposed to do certain things on Sunday…..or it would be bad luck or the devil would get you!

I need to know this as well