Folklore:
At a Dunkin’ Donuts near USC, there is a Dunkin Ghost that haunts which causes random acts of high jinx during odd hours of service.

Context:
The informant works at the Dunkin Donuts near USC and told a story about their experiences with the Dunkin Ghost. “My story is about my job at Dunkin… I have been working at Dunkin for 2 years now… I don’t know how long the Dunkin Ghost has been a thing… a beeper would go off with no one entering…moved the trash can to the middle lobby… very heavy and knew that they didn’t move it… the alarm didn’t go off and it showed no one on camera.” The ghost was used to explain weird happenings around the store.

Analysis:
The folklore tends to be used as an explanation for things without explanation or for things that are done outside of expectation. It is a folklore shared within a service and work community which are held to certain expectations and rules. The explanation of the Dunkin Ghost is able to explain away the weird happenings or happenings that don’t meet those rules. Though in some cases, the ghost is used to explain happenings that don’t have a reasonable explanation.