Superstitions have always fascinated me. I have, over the years, dealt with a number of these. I know that, despite your protestations, many of you are actually more than a little superstitious.

I know I am. I can’t help it. I know that many of these beliefs are totally illogical and, sometimes, plain ridiculous.

That’s what my head tells me, but, deep down, my heart often tells me otherwise.

And I suspect that it could be the same for you, and if it’s not, aren’t you the lucky one?

The superstitions which I have found to be quite fascinating are those held by those employed in various jobs and those, often customers or clients, who are in contact with them.

I have written about superstitions concerned with actors, miners and sailors before.

These are well documented.

But what about the rest of the population?

Are there any – or is it that they haven’t been recorded anywhere?

I can think of quite a few occupations which might well have work superstitions peculiar to their jobs.

What about postmen, police officers, lorry drivers, bank staff, teachers, social workers, hoteliers, supermarket staff, office worker vicars, bus drivers and a whole host of other occupations?

I know you can fill in the gaps, perhaps with the line of work you are in yourself.

Some of these work superstitions have possibly been written up in professional and trade magazines and periodicals.

These, of course, rarely fall into the hands of anyone outside that particular occupation.

It’s pretty pointless my adding many of these to my to be researched file as the only way I am going to access many of the more obscure occupational publications is if someone has dumped them in waiting rooms.

Next time you have an appointment anywhere and you have time to kill, just flick through the bundle of old magazines – and they are often very old – which are often piled on a corner table.

The range on offer might surprise you.

What crosses your mind when you see an ambulance hurrying along a road?

If you are like me, you wonder where it’s going and hope that the unfortunate in the vehicle will be treated successfully – and then carry on walking.

Have you ever come across a superstition about seeing an ambulance on the road?

It’s one I’ve just come across. And this is where some of you will wonder where I’ve been all my life – but you can’t know everything.

I can’t recall ever coming across any superstitions about ambulances.

According to superstition, probably Victorian in origin, it is unlucky to see an ambulance travelling along the road.

Why? Anyone know?

If you do see one, then all is not lost as long as you do a few things to ward off any possible bad luck.

You can bend down and touch the floor – not a good idea if it’s a muddy road and it’s raining cats and dogs.

Alternatively, you must grab hold of one of your collars.

But that’s not all. You must keep hold of that collar until you next see a dog.

Now this might have been all right some years ago, when there were plenty of dogs out in the streets.

Nowadays, if this superstition ever caught on, whenever an ambulance passed by it would leave an army of folk, all collar clutching, searching desperately for a passing canine.

You could, of course, choose the option of waiting until you see a bird fly by which, in our part of the world, will be in no time at all.

Only one exception to this, just hope that the bird you see is not a crow.

It is, of course, another just-in-case superstition.

Superstition has it that if you don’t take any appropriate preventative action, you might well end up as a patient in an ambulance.

I haven’t come across any superstitions for ambulance staff.

Perhaps they don’t have any.

But I did find one for American ambulance drivers which, I suppose could also apply to drivers in this country.

It maintained that if for any reason a driver took his boots off during a break-time, then it was more than likely that a call out was imminent.

One belief, possibly American, I did come across had to do with speedway riders.

If one of them followed an ambulance on the way to the track, he could well leave in one.

There’s only one problem with superstitions – many tend to be a trifle gloomy.