Author Archives: Bonnie Pakravan

Joke – New York

Question: “If you’re French in the kitchen, British in the living room, and Swedish in the closet, what are you in the bathroom?”

Answer: “European.” (Pronounced you’re-a-peein’)

Alex told me that he learned this joke from one of his campers back in New York.  He used to be a camp counselor and he thinks that the camper who told him this joke was about nine or ten.  He does not know where the camper learned the joke, but since he is pretty young and knows the joke, he guessed that it was a really popular joke.

One of the reasons I like this joke is because of the associations between the cultures and the section of the house.  The French are well known for their cuisine, so they are put in the kitchen.  The Swedes are known for their high technology and design, shown through stores like IKEA, so they are put in the closet.  The only reason I see the British in the living room is maybe because they are illustrated as being proper and intellectual, and I can picture a Brit sitting in the living room reading a book.  And so when I heard the question to the joke, I was trying to think of which culture would be associated with the bathroom.  I thought it would be mean and wrong to start guessing different countries, but when he said European I found it really funny.

Contemporary Legend – Saint Louis, Missouri

“So in St. Louis, where I’m from, there was an actual exorcism.  Like the movie “The Exorcist” was based off of this one.  It happened to a little black boy who lived over the river in Illinois but it was performed in St. Louis.  It probably happened in the mid 1900’s, like in the ‘50’s and people say he still lives in the area.  It actually happened, like it was reported on T.V. for a long time and it was in all the newspapers.  But anyways, now anytime somebody brings up the movie “The Exorcist” or just anything about exorcism, everyone kind of brags that it actually happened in St. Louis.”

The exorcism Meredith is told me about was a real one; it was reported on the news for a long time. When I first heard it, I thought it was a legend and that it was something that could happen but really did not.  But she told me numerous times that it actually did happen and that the man, Roland Doe, is still living.

I consider this story to be folklore because it is a story that a group of people, the people from St. Louis, identifies to.  As Meredith stated, every time somebody mentions the movie “The Exorcist”, people from St. Louis jump to add that it happened in their hometown.  She also told me that the movie was actually based off of the exorcism that occurred in St. Louis.  She added that this exorcism was the only documented exorcism performed in the America.

Meredith said that she learned about this story when she was in elementary school and from her parents as well.  She thinks it is interesting and she said she would always bring it up when people talked about ghost stories or urban legends.

I believe that this story will become a piece of legend as time goes on.  The people who actually know this happened will pass, but the story will be passed on orally and some may even create variations of the story.  When I first heard this story, I was a little spooked out.  I had never heard of an exorcism that actually happened, and it happening relatively recently and in America was incomprehensible to me.  However, it was very interesting how Meredith openly she shared the story as if it was something she, and the other people of St. Louis, are proud of being associated with.

Family Story

“So my mom’s side of the family is Irish and we have a family crest.  But on the crest, there is actually a bloody hand on it.  There are other stuff too like lions and leaves, but there’s a bloody hand in the middle.  So when I was about nine or ten, we had a family reunion in south Illinois and we all had t-shirts made for the reunion with the family crest on it.  So at the reunion, I found out what the crest meant.  So my great great great great great great great, I could keep going on but it was just like hundreds of years ago, grandfather in Ireland was fighting for a piece of land.  And the way they did it was through a boat race and the first person to touch the land won it.  And that piece of land was worth a fortune.  So he was racing against someone and the other guy was in front of him.  So my great great… you know… grandfather, he chopped the hand off of the guy in front of him and threw it ahead of him so that he technically touched the land first.  And so that is why there’s a bloody hand on our family crest.  Oh, and our family name is O’Neil.”

As mentioned in the story, Meredith heard of this while at a family reunion.  I asked her whether it is true or not and she said that it could be true and that it was the only explicable reasoning as to why there is a bloody hand on her family crest.  But mostly, she thought that it was a funny and interesting story.  When I heard the story, I thought that what her ancestor did was really clever.  If Meredith believes it to be true, then I do as well.  The reasoning is not that bizarre since there is already a bloody hand on the crest.  I believe this is most characterized as a legend.  Her ancestor did exist and in real time, however, it is not documented as to whether or not that was the actual reasoning to why there is a bloody hand on her crest.

The story to me was very interesting, but I also liked the fact that she had a family reunion.  I could imagine how big this reunion must have been since they all made t-shirts to celebrate it.  I think that these reunions are a great way to pass on folklore.  The best folklore is not documented but instead passed orally on between people.  This does leave room for multiplicity and variation, but it is a great way to keep tradition.  Meredith said that this event occurred hundreds of years ago, even before the printing press.  So it was very hard to document events in writing.  One way they documented a family’s identity, however, was through the family crest.  Everything else had to kept alive through sharing stories.

Ghost Story – New Jersey

“There’s this intersection in New Jersey in the back roads so it’s not in a busy area.  It’s completely deserted but people say that if you put powder- like baby powder or something- on your windows and you drive through the intersection, handprints of spirits will appear on the windows.”

Amy heard about his ghost story in high school from her friends.  The intersection that is supposedly haunted is far from her hometown so she has never been there to test it out.  But she said she would not even do it if she could.  Even though she is scared to do it, she does not think that there are actual spirits there.  However, she says that that is a very popular ghost story that people all over New Jersey like to share.

I was thinking about this ghost story.  Since so many people in New Jersey know about this story, as Amy claims, I feel like handprints may show up, but from other causes.  Perhaps the handprints the people claim to see are their own from before; in other words, they touched their windows beforehand but forgot about it and now think they belong to the spirits.

Amy also told me another ghost story but since it is similar to the previous piece, I decided to put them together.

“In another part of New Jersey, there’s an uphill road.  People say that if you put your car in neutral on that road, spirits start to pull your car up the incline.”

Amy heard this story from her friends as well.  She added by saying that there was an actual accident on that road many years ago.  Now, the spirits who have stayed there pull the cars up, preventing them from getting into any accidents.  Amy said that she was fairly sure that the accident did actually happen.  The fact that there is an actual event in the background of this ghost story gives it more substance and meaning.

Amy told me she never personally tried this, but that she feels that it is an optical illusion.  I am personally torn in this situation; I cannot make up my mind about whether or not I believe it.  This story is the only one that I have heard of its kind; I have not heard any other versions of it.  Perhaps because it was told to me with a background story of an actual even rather than in the form of an “urban legend”, I think it could possibly have some sort of merit.  Nonetheless, this ghost story, like the previous one, is widely known throughout New Jersey and many people do attest to its validity.  For Amy and her friends, these ghost stories were a form of entertainment and in middle school and high school, they would share these and other stories in order to set a mood and scare the other girls.

Also seen in: Moran, Mark and Mark Sceurman.  Weird U.S. Your Travel Guide to America’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005.

Proverb

“It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.”

This is a proverb that Amy said she learned when she was probably in elementary school.  She learned this proverb along with many other proverbs.  She noted that at the time, she did not really understand what the proverb meant, nonetheless what the purpose of a proverb was.  She told me that she does not really say this proverb that often; before she told it to me, she said she had to think about it for a while and then she remembered it.  Even though she rarely says the proverb, she likes what it means.  The way she described the meaning was that it is a different thing to actually do something than just stepping back and watching somebody else do it.

The way I interpret this proverb is that from a distance, everything looks easy and simple; however, once you face your fears or the task at hand, you have to try to make an effort to become brave.  Even though this proverb is not widely popular, it can apply to all different people if they are put in a situation where they have to overcome a fear.  In my interpretation, the proverb also challenges the audience to go an extra step and to be braver.

Also seen in: Aesop.  Aesop’s Fables. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1990.