Cursed as a $2 bill?

I was passing the ol' basket at church the other day when I saw someone had slipped a two-dollar bill. I immediately bought it with a couple of singles. I haven't had one of these in decades. 

In my college years I had a job for a while that involved handling bills, and on Fridays I would get my paycheck cashed and buy any $2 bills, silver dollars, and other odd denominations that I or the others had in the drawers from that day's take. When I went out with my friends after work I would use them to surprise bartenders. That's what I considered funny in those days.

These are still legal tender, of course; the Treasury Department says the last one was printed in 2003. The one I got was a pristine 1978 issue, Tommy Jefferson on the front, the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back. I don't know who put it in the basket, but I suspect someone held on to it for a long time, expecting it to appreciate in value, only to discover that it's now worth $2.

So it's a nice bill and I was glad to get it. Except for, you know, THE CURSE.

I'd heard from my mom that the two was considered bad luck back in the day, and considering how things would go for me on Friday nights when I was in college, there's reason to think it was true. Snopes did a nice summary of the supposed reasons for the curse (generally not family friendly reading), and debunks them pretty well. I always figured the problem was that people would confuse them with ones and overpay, or with twenties and get gypped. Snopes tried to find the origin of the legend, but it's hard to track these things down. Anyway, it's all nonsense.

OR IS IT?

It was Thursday when I came home with the bill, and came home to find things had gone to heck. Naughty dogs, grouchy clients, a drive to Pennsylvania necessitated on Friday, and a big job due on Wednesday that suddenly looked impossible -- felt like the walls were closing in quickly. Darn you, $2 bill!

I didn't take the bill with me to Pennsylvania. It was too cold to deal with flat tires or busted axles. Saturday morning I spent it. Phew!

Actually, I realize the whole thing was silly. I'm generally not superstitious, believe it or not. And the ironic thing is, Jefferson was probably the least superstitious president in history, a Deist at best who refused to believe in the miracles of the Bible. I'm not conflating faith with superstition, but a man like T.J. would have.

Maybe that's why they put him on the bill -- to vanquish the curse! 😵