Knocking On Wood

Lately, I’ve been knocking on wood a lot whenever I get careless and talk about the future—and not just the far future. I’m worried about jinxing the very next second after this one. 

I’ve learned nothing is certain. So, I avoid saying things like, “Looks like it’s going to be a mild winter,” or “It’s been a great trip. What could possibly happen?” 

If you don’t knock on wood after saying something is likely to happen, you’re asking for it. And it’s not just me that’s knocking on wood these days. I’ve been hearing the disclaimer mentioned everywhere. Like this comment I overheard recently in the supermarket, “I haven’t had a cold or the flu in years, knock on wood.” I even heard a commentator on NPR actually knock on wood. 

People have been knocking on wood to ward off evil for centuries. If you google it, you’ll find among other explanations that knocking on wood was practiced by people who believed that trees were home to powerful spirits. If someone expressed a future hope they knocked on trees, and later anything made of wood, in fear that an evil spirit might work against them. 

Things have a way of surprising me. My most fervent hopes, my dreaded fears—in fact, everything happening in the next few seconds and beyond is up for grabs—so, it’s just good sense for me to knock on wood whenever I tempt fate by making some bold prediction.

Knock, knock, knock. 

—Stephen Newton