Superstitious Americans

This weekend, I am staying on the 11th Floor of the Hilton Vancouver Airport. This building reputedly has 18 floors. Or atleast the top floor is the 18th floor. Fair enough, in europe an 18 story building would finish with the 17th floor.. crazy europeans...

However, closer examination reveals that Americans are far crazier. Of course this building has no 13th floor, a well documented superstition in these parts. But the crazy is spreading. This building also has no 4th or 14th floor. Apparently in many parts of asia 4 is an unlucky number... So in europe the top floor of this building would be the 14th floor, and I would be staying on the 9th floor...

I can understand why commercial property developers or their tenants do this of course, superstition is a powerful economic force. However, I am wondering if there is a benefit to legislating this stupidity away?

The reason I am concerned is that it seems to be getting worse, and that the market will usually move to service the lowest common denominator. My gut says to leave well enough alone, that this is a pretty harmless situation, but I am always alarmed by trends moving away from a totally secular society.

Oh, and on a completely different note, it seems that when it comes to internet access the more you pay for a hotel the less you get. Despite this being a considerably pricier establishment than I usually stay in, they charge for internet access here, and have no wireless access....

Again, Blenz is awesome... :)