Author Archives: Alexandra Dickerson

Microwave Blindness

Sara is a very gossipy, religious, fun girl. Sophomore at USC, she’s in the Helene’s and a sorority. She’s from Anaheim, California. And she has an incredibly interesting memory and past.

Probably the funniest of my interviews was this one. Sara described to me how her friends in elementary school told her not to eat too many green vegetables because she would turn green; not to eat too many carrots because she would turn orange. She said that when her friends told her that she replied with something along the lines:

“Oh, ok. I don’t want to be green. But listen, want to know a secret. Don’t stare at the microwave when there’s food in there. It’ll make you go blind.”

I’ve never ever heard of this growing up but I have heard other friends talking about their mothers telling their young children to stay away form the microwave when it’s cooking food.

Analysis: It’s a myth! People who don’t understand microwaves sometimes believe there is some sort of deadly radiation coming out of the oven, but that’s not true. Microwaves are the same waves used by many wireless gadgets. The only difference in the case of microwave ovens is that they are a lot stronger, so they tend to heat things up when they hit them. Microwaves cannot escape from the oven, because the inside is made of metal, which blocks microwaves. And the window in front of the oven blocks microwaves, too, because it contains a metal screen with holes that microwaves are too large to pass through. This allows you to look inside the oven without being exposed to any of the microwaves. You can look for as long as you want. It won’t hurt you.

Bands, Bands, Bands, Bands

Sara is a very gossipy, religious, fun girl. Sophomore at USC, she’s in the Helene’s and a sorority. She’s from Anaheim, California. And she has an incredibly interesting memory and past.

No not bands like music bands. Bands like the one you wear around your wrist. When I introduced folklore to Sara, and I talked about weird games or silly gestures this came to mind:

Took place in middle school: The new fad in the early 2000’s were these very cute plastic multi-colored bands. Very easy to put on, cheap, and stylish (for some reason). After the trend settled in, boys started coming up with ways to use this new fad to their advantage. There were several colored bands. They thought – what if each of them meant something. Then they came up with the game. When a boy comes up to a girl if he manages to break or “pop” the band, the girl would have to act out what ever action was attached to the color of the band. Green meant hug, pink meant a kiss, and eventually the list goes to: black means sex.

Analysis: Whether or not middle school-aged students were doing who knows what with those bands, I definitely remember seeing girls at my school wearing them. That goes to show the multiplicity across state borders. Sara and I didn’t go to the same school. IN fact, she was in California and I was in Pennsylvania. Games like this were very popular in middle school. Middle school is an age of experimentation. Especially with our sexuality. Middle school, while it may be a very painful time for some of us, is where we start growing into a more permanent person.  Phases and hats tend to lessen in high school where cliques and identities are formed.

SFW Porn

Steele is one of my friends I train in the ROTC program. Very interesting character. He is a freshman at USC. In his spare time he reads The Prince by Machiavelli on the Realism; an International Relations school of thought. He dates 5 women at a time and loves clash of clans.

 

It’s bad enough walking in on a friend or boyfriend watching porn at home. But walking into a workplace is even weirder. The ROTC program has a room called the “wardroom”. It’s got a couch, a table with ten chairs for work, a computer table and printer. So porn is really a topic of conversation in this place. Until:

Steele: “this is totally MY porn.”

Friend: “What, thats bull sh**, look at mine…”

Steele: “Not even bro. Look at her. In red. Hips. Perfect.”

When I saw what was on screen though, I was shocked. They were only looking at cars. I asked him what they were doing calling it porn.

Steele “It’s SFW porn, Ms. Dickerson”.

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Steele: “SFW porn. Safe for work porn.” I then laughed my “A” off.

Analysis: Porn has become less and less scrutinized then it used to by society about three decades ago. Couples often look to porn for inspiration together. The general public has become more accepting about how easily accessible this porn is. The label porn in “safe for work” porn just lets us know that we’re becoming, perhaps, a less conservative society.

RED. BULL…SPERM?

Steele is one of my friends I train in the ROTC program. Very interesting character. He is a freshman at USC. In his spare time he reads The Prince by Machiavelli on the Realism; an International Relations school of thought. He dates 5 women at a time and loves clash of clans.

My friend Steele,  he really likes Red Bull energy drinks. Makes sense. We’re in college and we spend a haunting amount of time late at night working on overdue homework and projects. Not to mention he is an ROTC programmer which means very very early mornings. But I guess there was just one thing Steele didn’t know about Red Bull. Every year, the ROTC midshipmen have to do a nutrition and wellness brief. In this brief incldues a discussion about nicotine and alcohol, diet and caffiene, rest and exercise. When we touched up on caffeine our presenters talked about all the bad chemicals that swim in the cans of al the energy drinks – even the ones that say their harmless. They ended that slide by saying:

“Oh…and there’s bulls sperm in these bad boys”. Immediately faces started turning to each other. Steele afterwards laughed because he knew it wasn’t true. The rest of the class decided to pull a nasty prank and we showed him false articles that stated that Red Bull really had bull sperm in it. Steele says he spent the rest of the asking random people if they knew there was bull sperm in Red Bull. By the end of the day he realized it was just an urban legend.

Analysis: I couldn’t tell you why I think people would spread rumors like that. But logically, energy drink really do have some god awful chemicals and elements in their that an individual shouldn’t be drinking. Note: Steele stopped drinking the Red bull after he ‘thought’ he realized he was drinking an animals ‘seed’. One of the reasons rumors like this may be easy to spread is because perhaps bull sperm isn’t too far from drinking all the other nasty stuff in their. Someone wants us to stop drinking this.

 

You Owe the Lot!

Steele is one of my friends I train in the ROTC program. Very interesting character. He is a freshman at USC. In his spare time he reads The Prince by Machiavelli on the Realism; an International Relations school of thought. He dates 5 women at a time and loves clash of clans.

Steele fell victim to an old navy tradition a few days ago. In the military, we wear what is called a “cover”. In the civilian world you would call it a hat or cap. The military is known for its discipline, stiffness, and tidiness. We keep our quarters spotless and smelling good. There’s also a high level of respect. When a military personnel leaves their cover (cap) on a table it’s considered disrespectful. The way you take your hat off before entering a building, or close a wet umbrella before walking in. Anyone can call you out for leaving your cover on the table. If you’re caught, for the painful disrespect you have befallen, you owe who ever is in the room a round of drinks. Let’s just say when Steele got caught, he said that it was a very expensive (potential buy). Luckily in the program, not all of us are 21 yet so they can’t hold us to it unless they’re keeping a tab.

Analysis: One of the navy’s oldest traditions. When you think Navy, you think “Drunken Sailor” on an old rustic sail ship. That’s where the tradition comes from. Sailors spent gruesome, cruel hours under and on the poop deck of a ship maintaining the large wooden object for sea. But when they weren’t hoisting the colors, or manning the helm, they had to do something. Many of today’s drinking games and chanties come from the world’s finest Navy.