Sample Summary
Original: "In the Western world, 13 is generally considered an unlucky number. Its unfavorable associations may come from the number of guests at the Last Supper. Such is the force of popular credence in good or bad luck associated with numbers that the great majority of hotels, office buildings, and apartment houses in the United States have no floor numbered 13. The elevator goes directly from 12 to 14—not necessarily because builders and owners are superstitious but because they are certain that guests or tenants would not choose to occupy floor 13" (Berlitz, 1982).
Summary: Possibly because it was the number of people who attended Christ's final meal, the number 13 is usually thought to be unlucky by Westerners. This association between numbers and luck has resulted in the absence of a 'floor 13' in tall, U.S. buildings for fear no one would want to live or work there (Berlitz, 1982).
Berlitz, Charles. Native Tongues. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers. 1982.