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Flair

A while back, a friend of mine went to Japan and brought back a good luck charm (omamori) for me as a souvenir. I'm not superstitious, but I figured it couldn't hurt. The actual omamori is about the size of a key, so it's not like it was going to take up tons of space. What's more, I figured I would need the protection the most when I was outside of my own home, so I stuck it on my key chain. The little bell on it meant that I had to sacrifice some stealth, but I figured if I really had to go all ninja on someone I wouldn't take my keys with me.

Because the omamori was on my key chain, I'd always remember it when I was driving. As a result, I came to think of it as my "good luck on the roads" charm. I've never gotten a speeding ticket, and I've never been in a collision with another car. Basically, any trouble I've ever had behind the wheel has been solely my fault; I'd say it's done its job well. And the longer the good luck has held up, the more superstitious I've became about it. I'm still not strict about it, and I have hopped in my car without it plenty of times. However, going from not really believing in it to thinking "man, too bad I left it at home" counts as becoming more superstitious.

Well, I got the omamori several years ago. The string on which it came started to fray, and it kept getting undone from my key chain. I eventually resorted to just sticking it in my pocket. It still did its thing, but I had to make a conscious effort to shove it in my pocket every time I went out. A couple of times, it fell out of my pocket, so I was a little worried that I might accidentally lose it one of these days.

This morning, as I was getting out of my car, it suddenly occurred to me: I can tie the thing to the rear-view mirror. I don't know why this has never occurred to me before. I suspect it's a practice more common amongst women than men, but that's more of a guess than anything else. The thing is supposed to protect me when I'm driving anyway, what better place than my car? Also, there's zero chance that I'll lose it or leave it at home that way. All in all, I couldn't really think of any reason not to do this, so I tied it up.

As soon as I did this, two more thoughts came to me:

  • My car has flair now
  • I am free to go all ninja if I want now. Watch out, world.
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