Monthly Archives: May 2015

Hand Name Dating Game

Nationality: United States
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 29APR2015
Primary Language: English
Language: None

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

Nationality: United States
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 29APR2015
Primary Language: English
Language: None

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

Nationality: United States
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 29APR2015
Primary Language: English
Language: None

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

Don’t F**k with Camel Spiders

Nationality: United States
Age: 32
Occupation: Marine Staff Sergeant
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 23APR2015
Primary Language: English
Language: None

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

Informant’s Story:

“Dude, camel spiders are f**king terrifying. Like, I’ve been shot at and had sh** explode around me, but I have never been more stressed than finding a camel spider. These things arent like normal spiders. They f**king chase you and have mouths. Not little pincer things, f**king mouths. Anyways, the folklore element thing with these things is how they got their name. There are three origins that I’ve heard from both marines and interpreters. One is that they can run as fast as a camel, which I can attest to cause those f***kers run. Another one is that they can jump as high as a camel. I’ve never seen this, but I know they can jump. The last one is that they can suck a camel dry. Again, I haven’t seen this, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to.”

Analyses:

As it turns out, Camel spiders are arachnids but not actually spiders at all. They dont jump, they dont chase people, and they dont completely devour camels. The camel spider gets its name from the true fact that it does eat camel stomachs, but generally dead ones. Camel spiders were fairly unknown until the U.S invaded Iraq and were forced to coexist with these eight legged creatures. Thanks to the nature of soldiers and marines to exaggerate, along with the animal’s grotesque features, the camel spider has received the reputation of being quite the monster. Other myths include that they scream, have deadly venom, and chew on soldiers in their sleep. None of these are true.

Military weddings

Nationality: United States
Age: 32
Occupation: Marine Corps Staff Sergeant
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 23APR2015
Primary Language: English
Language: None

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

 

Informant’s Story:

“When me and my wife got married, we had a normal military wedding. Its like a normal wedding except I wear my Dress Uniform and  there’s a weapons arch at the end. Officers have a saber arch, and enlisted guys like me have a rifle arch. The guys doing the arch are generally your friends. So you wait there for them to do the arch, then you walk through, stop and take a picture. After that you keep going through but they stop you before you leave and giver your wife a swat on the butt and say ‘welcome the Marine Corps Ma’am,’ or whatever branch your in. After that its just like the rest of a normal wedding. Just pictures & sh**.”

Analyses:

This wedding ceremony is preformed by most, if not all, members of the military. The arch is incredibly symbolic. It symbolizes a liminal point in which the non-military spouse transfers over to becoming a military spouse after they walk through the arch. The arch also symbolizes military life. The weapons represent the protection and support of the U.S military and are held by the military members friends. The stop and subsequent swat symbolizes the many obstacles and hardships that the couple will have to endure as the military life is not for the faint of heart. The wedding is planned like any other wedding ceremony and doesnt not require any special permission to make it an “official” military marriage, as long as the military customs are followed.