In the early nineties, my former classmate and close friend Vitaly, like many others, went into commerce. The guy opened a small shop selling audio and video equipment. Vitaly was active and serious, so I agreed to become his right hand. And he was the organizer of God, a former Komsomol organizer. In a word, you will not be lost next to such a person.
To look from the outside - such a guy cannot have any cockroaches in his head. But no! My friend had a fad. He did not like the number eleven. And not that he did not love - he was afraid.
Once at a gathering over a glass of beer, Vitaly explained the reason. In the army, like many privates, he marked the days gone by in his pocket calendar. Thus, reducing the number of remaining days to the long-awaited demobilization. And he marked these days in an unusual way, he marked successful days with a green pen, medium - blue, and unsuccessful, black days - respectively, black. Returning to civilian life, out of habit, he continued to circle the dates on the calendar. Apparently, this sacred act turned into a reflex for him.
And somehow, by chance, he noticed a pattern - not a single day on the 11th for several years had a single color except black. Other dates also came across, circled with a black pen, but not with such constancy as 11. So after that my friend became thoughtful, and then completely began to be afraid of every approaching eleventh. Of course, such a quirk became the reason that his friends made fun of him. It was only then that there was no time for jokes.
Once, in a small company, he took a steam bath in his own bathhouse. As usual - for the whole night, with vodka and girls. What went wrong there - I don't know, I was not there, but his bathhouse burned down. And with him and one girl of easy virtue. In the confusion they forgot about her drunk, asleep in some corner. Vitalik, as the organizer of the event and the owner of the bathhouse, had a hard time - a criminal case was opened against him. Then he got off with a suspended sentence. And that fire happened on March 11, 1994.
As time went. Our business expanded. We sold not only electronics, but also upholstered furniture. New business partners and a large warehouse on the outskirts of the city appeared, where sofas, beds, armchairs were stored. Sometimes, one of us spent the night there, to help the watchman. One day, on July 11, 1996, be it the eleventh, Vitaly spent the night in a warehouse. And I and two other guys decided to play a prank on a friend. Armed with bats, and wearing balaclavas, in the middle of the night we raided the warehouse. Like robbers, rushed for the Italian sofas. While they were packing the humble watchman, they overlooked Vitalik, who instantly shot two of us, I was wounded in the leg. And then, the court. Together with an outstanding conviction for a burned out bathhouse, the friend received a substantial sentence - fifteen years. The business collapsed, Vitaly was angry with me, we stopped communicating.
I moved to another city long ago. Recently I was in my area, I found out that my friend never got out, some kind of conflict happened in the zone and he was killed there. And on the grave, the date of death is 2003-11-02.
Promotional video:
Numbers, numbers, numerology. Parapsychologists comment
They say that there is such a science - numerology. Frankly, this is pseudoscience, the real one. I had a relative who was born on January 8, 1942. I barely finished school, drank all my life, and died of drunkenness. And on the same day, January 8, 1942, Stephen Hawking was born! And yet there is no numerology, for the reason that humanity is still not sure whether it thinks correctly. Once upon a time, 8 was the last digit, and it is no coincidence that the eight is depicted as an infinity symbol. In electronics, for example, an octal or hexadecimal number system is used.
Man is an impressive creature, and if you constantly inspire yourself that something bad will happen on the eleventh, this bad will definitely happen. For the simple reason that on this day a person will be tense, feel uncomfortable, afraid of everything around, and hence - inappropriate behavior with all the ensuing consequences.