This doesn't mean I'm completely immune to they psychological effects of superstition.
Walking down the street, I spied a quarter. I picked it up. I put it in my pocket. I went on to have a really terrible 24 hours, just the worst day.
I was grumbling back down the same street where I'd found the quarter the day before, and when I came to the spot where the quarter had been, I stopped, took it out of my pocket and placed it right back again where I'd found it.
The streak of misery ended.
Over the next year I probably passed up a good couple of cups of coffee worth of change as I refused to pick up abandoned coinage on my frequent walks. I'd tricked my brain into shaking off the negativity but had picked up a superstition in the process.
Then I started picking up coins again.
You see, I'd had another bad day, and found myself wishing I had a bad luck quarter in my pocket so that I could put it back where I got it and get myself back on the right track.
