Author Archives: Jacob Treat

Shotgunning a beer

Informant Background:

The informant is a Junior at USC in the Naval ROTC program. he considers himself the typical college boy and often enjoys attending the numerous parties around campus.

Informants story:

“So, something that literally any body who’s been to a college party knows how to do is to shotgun a beer. Its pretty easy to set up when you get the hang of it, but the actual shotgunning its self can be hard for a new person. What you do is you first take a can of beer, hold it side ways and cut a whole in the side toward the bottom without letting it spill. I usually do this with keys, but do it however that will get you that hole. When you’re ready, you put your hand like you’re gonna open the can, put the hole to your mouth with the top straight up, pop the top and chug as fast as you can. You pop the top so the air goes in and helps push the beer out and into your mouth.”

Analyses:

The shotgun has been preformed since the college kids first got their hands on beer cans. This classic college act serves two functions. For one, It delivers a large quantity of alcohol to the body in a very short amount of time, thus allowing for the participant to get drunk faster. The other function is that its used as social reinforcement. Any college drinker will tell you that shotgunning is not something you do alone. Shotgunning is something that generally occurs at parties, and preformed among those whom you want to create a bond with. The act of shotgunning allows the participants to share the same experience and in turn creates a small bit of trust. Should the participant not be able to shotgun adequately, the provide a source of entertainment as they struggle to drink as it pours down their face. Should the shotgun be successful, the participant is seen as someone who can handle themselves in the college part atmosphere. Someone asking you to shotgun with them, should be seen as a high compliment as it is a sign that they wish to reinforce or create a friendship.

 

 

Dirty Drinking Trick for Dirty Pleasures

Informant back Ground:

This informant is a  Junior at USC in the Naval ROTC program. he considers himself the typical college boy and often enjoys attending the numerous parties around campus.

 

Informants story :

“So I know this trick I heard from some enlisted guys [navy] while over summer cruise works. What you do is put a shot on your head and get a girl to put her hands behind her back and try to drink the shot from off of your head. What she might or might not know is that her cleavage will be directly in your face while she does it. It’s kind of wrong, but very right at the same time.”

 

Analyses:

I’ve actually heard of this trick before. This little “trick” is known fairly well throughout the military, primarily due to its masculine environment. This trick has even been featured in the HBO miniseries “The Pacific”. This “trick”, however, is beginning to fizzle out among members of the military as the military begins cracking down on any form of sexual harassment, especially when alcohol is involved. That being said, it is entirely within reason to assume that this action is performed by many other non-military as well. Though this trick may be well and fun should the participating female be aware of the reason for the act, it would definitely be considered sexual harassment by any court should the woman be unaware of what she was really doing.  Even so, the male need for sexual stimulation is unending, and chances are this trick will perpetuate far into the future.

Hand Name Dating Game

Informant Background:

This informant is a sophomore at USC in the Naval ROTC program. She grew up in Pennsylvania in a middle class family. As a child she enjoyed all things sci-fi and fantasy, and in high school she developed a passion for the military in JROTC.

Informant’s story:

“There was this game that me and my little friends used to play when I was little where one of us would write the name of a boy in another on us’s hand, and they couldn’t look at it until school was over. If they looked at their hand before school was out, they had to go on a date or kiss or something like that. I don’t really remember. We did this during middle school.”

 

Analyses:

Given the stage in which the young girls were at in middle school, it is unsurprising that games like this would come to existence. It’s around this time that girls stop realizing that there’s a difference between boys and them and they become attracted to them, girls generally maturing in this way faster than guys. As puberty starts to slowly set in, games like this are used as excuse to interact with the opposite gender. Being able to say “Sorry, I had to because the game” is a lot easier to admit than admitting that you liked someone. During middle school, embarrassment was a kids worse nightmare.

4 square

Informant Background:

This informant is a sophomore at USC in the Naval ROTC program. She grew up in Pennsylvania in a middle class family. As a child she enjoyed all things sci-fi and fantasy, and in high school she developed a passion for the military in JROTC.

 

Informant’s Story:

“When I was little there was this game we played called “4 square”. This was played using a large square that was divided into four smaller squares which were painted on the blacktop of the the recess area, and a ball that could bounce. A red rubber ball was preferable, but anything that was kickball sized and could bounce would work. You basically take turns bouncing the ball to each others squares. The basic rules were that if the ball bounced in your square, you had to touch it and hit it to another square. Each square had a different position, meaning one square was for the king, and the opposite square was the peasant. If you didn’t reach the ball after it hit your square, or you violated any other rules, you would be forced to go down to the peasant square and all the others would move up a level if it was vacant. The king could make up any rules they wanted to. This could mean rules like, clockwise only, or cherry bombs only (cherry bombs being where you slam the ball down on the others square as hard as possible and if they caught it you had to go back to the peasants space. Rules could be anything we could make up and this pretty much made up the entirety of my elementary school experience.”

 

Analyses:

Though the game is actually an official game, children have been they want to it for decades. In the case of this informant, this shows just how ingenious and complex children can think, taking something taught to them, presumably by gym teachers or other children, with a basic framework, and then completely restructuring it to play how they want to. The amazing thing about the way children have spread this game is that there are unofficial rules that have circulated among children to being solid well known rules. I distinctly playing this as a kid myself, cherry bombs and all. The fact that such rules were known to two kids over a thousand miles away is astounding.

Running Cadences

Informant Background:

This informant is a sophomore at USC in the Naval ROTC program. She grew up in Pennsylvania in a middle class family. As a child she enjoyed all things sci-fi and fantasy, and in high school she developed a passion for the military in JROTC.

Informant’s story:

“So in the naval battalion, or military in general, when we run we have what are called ‘running cadences’ or ‘jodies’. These are like call an response song like things which are sung to a specific cadence to keep us motivated and keep us in step. a popular cadence is “C-130 rolling down the strip” There’s tons of variations to it to suit whichever branch or unit is singing it.”

Analyses:

Running cadences are used to motivate runners, instill uniformity  and cohesion of the group, and establish the pace in which the group will be running. Cadences can be formed from a variety of different sources. Many of them have several variations that suit the different units. such cadences include “C-130 rolling down the strip”, “Hey [branch name]”, “I don’t know what I’ve been told” and many others. Other cadences are sung to the same tune, but with different words which only apply to unit, and some can work any and all groups. Cadences are an incredibly effective tool in building unit cohesion  and pushing physical fitness. The collective response of the runners instills a sense “team” and those who would otherwise give up are motivated to push forward to keep up with the rest of the group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sclCZc25oQ