5 Ladders and Luck

Chapter 5 Ladders and Luck When we walked into our classroom the next morning, there were pumpkins on Ms. Diz's desk. A little one and a medium one. Also there was an apple, a grape, a rock, and a quarter. Not only that, Mr. McGeely, the janitor, was high up on a ladder in a corner of the room. He was changing the long lightbulbs. Pumpkins and lightbulbs! It was going to be an amazing morning. "Class, I know a lot of you were interested in the giant pumpkin Mr. Page told us about yesterday," said Ms. Diz. "That's why we're going to learn about how to guess weight today. We call it estimating." Mr. McGeely climbed down from the ladder. "Replaced all the burned-out lights, Ms. Diz," he said.

"Wonderful," said Ms. Diz. "It's much brighter in here." It was true. You could see all kinds of things. On the floor I saw a black crayon and a ball of dust shaped like a kangaroo. And then I saw a penny! Right under Mr. McGeely's ladder. Gus saw it too. He made a dive for it. Gus was halfway under the ladder before I could grab his shirt. "Gus, no!" I cried. "You can't go under a ladder! It's seven years of bad luck!" "No, that's if you break a mirror," Hassan said. "I think seven years of bad luck is when you step on a crack," Coco said. "That's for breaking your mom's back," Maya said. "Everybody knows that!" "Excuse me!" Gus interrupted. "We're talking about a free penny here!" He grabbed for the penny. But I held on tight and slid him back. "Maybe it's a lucky penny, Roscoe," Gus said. "But going under the ladder would erase the lucky and turn it to unlucky," I said.

"Hmm," said Ms. Diz. "I think I see another wonderful learning opportunity." Two learning opportunities in two days! No wonder Ms. Diz had such a gigantic smile on her face. "Children," said Ms. Diz. "Roscoe was worried that if Gus went under a ladder it would be unlucky. But believing that something can cause good luck or bad luck is what we call a superstition. Can anyone think of a good reason why walking under a ladder would make bad luck happen?" "If there was a guy on it painting and the bucket of paint fell on your head," Wyatt said. "Well, yes," said Ms. Diz. "That would definitely be bad luck. But—" Coco raised her hand. "I might have my room painted magenta," she said. "That is what you get when you mix red and blue together." "Magenta is a very interesting color," said Ms. Diz. "But let's try to stay focused on superstitions. Roscoe, what made you think that going under a ladder would be bad luck?" "My Uncle Ed told me. He knows lots of good superstitions. And he gave me my lucky four-leaf

clover. After I got it, the same day I found an old sucker in my pocket and it was only just a little bit fuzzy. So how lucky was that?" "Pretty lucky," Ms. Diz agreed. But I had the feeling she was not a big fan of fuzzy suckers. Ms. Diz drew a picture of a four-leaf clover and an umbrella on the blackboard. "Some people believe things bring good luck," she said. "And some people believe doing certain things will bring bad luck. Like opening an umbrella in the house. Or breaking a mirror. But superstitions aren't based on fact, and they aren't real."

"My mom broke a mirror in her purse," Maya said. "And then she tripped on my sister's skateboard and broke her toe." "But that could have happened even if she hadn't broken a mirror," said Ms. Diz. Emma raised her hand. "My neighbor had a black cat cross in front of her in the park. Then she went to a minigolf place and found a green beetle in her corn dog. She blamed the black cat." "And I'll bet you told her that didn't make any sense," said Ms. Diz. "No," said Emma. "I told her not to order the corn dog next time. The very next day she fell in a mud puddle. And after that a skunk got in her kitchen and she had to move out of her house for a week because of the smell." "Wow," I said. "Black cats really are bad luck!" "Roscoe," said Ms. Diz, "in many countries, black cats are considered good luck. But the truth is, black cats are not good luck or bad luck. Neither are green kangaroos or purple alligators." "I know you're the teacher and all," I said, "but I'm pretty sure alligators don't come in purple." "Let's try this another way," Ms. Diz said. "Emma, do you think the black cat caused your

neighbor's problems?" Emma made a not-sure look. I know that look. I maybe even invented it. "How many of you think the black cat caused Emma's neighbor to eat a green beetle and fall in a mud puddle and have a skunk in her house?" Ms. Diz asked. We all raised our hands. "How many of you think Maya's mom tripped on a skateboard because she broke a mirror?" Ms. Diz asked. We all raised our hands again. "How many of you think I should paint my room magenta?" Coco asked. Ms. Diz had that I-need-a-nap look she sometimes gets, but usually not until the end of the day. She took a deep breath. "Maybe we should move on to a different learning opportunity," she said.