Friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom “Friday” is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen).
In a modern society with advanced technology you would think that a date would be unlikely to cause consternatation with clients but as witnessed by recent leap year date faux pas – thats not necessarily the case. While arranging a maintenance window for a piece of work on a client server the date was first moved because it would have fallen on a date with special significance in Northern Ireland – in this case Good Friday – but the date that was next proposed is cause for concern for many people – Friday the 13th.
I have noticed many clients across the years who were particular about things happening on certain dates and even in certain ways. Usually when pushed clients say -“thats just the way we do it” but you get the impression that there is an element of superstition about computer systems.
Which brings me to Clarke’s Third Law
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”