Author Archives: aeatkins@usc.edu

Watermelon Growing

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: usc
Performance Date: April 17, 2018
Primary Language: English

JJ: Do you know about the watermelon thing?
AA: What watermelon thing?
JJ: So, this is something I think is passed down from generation to generation
AA: Oh, really?
JJ: Oh, yes! So basically, it goes that if you eat a watermelon, or like, eat something with seeds
in it, that the seeds will sprout in your stomach, and you’ll grow a watermelon inside you
AA: Like a whole watermelon? If you swallow the seeds?
JJ: Yep, a whole watermelon
Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: When was the first time you heard this?
JJ: Uh, from my brother and his friends.
AA: And where are you from?
JJ: Newburyport, Massachusetts.
AA: What did you think of it? How did it affect or play out in your life?
JJ: It scared me. I still to this day don’t eat watermelon.
AA: What?
JJ: Well, partly because I don’t like the taste, but also I don’t know, maybe I was affected
psychologically.

Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
Jonathan recalls this being performed in elementary school, specifically with older kids telling
this to younger kids to scare them. He doesn’t remember it being carried on into middle school
but it being very believable in elementary school.

Reflection
I have definitely heard this before but I think it’s weird more than it is anything else. I’m pretty
sure I heard it in elementary school and I remember being afraid to swallow seeds but I never
feared eating fruit in general. I see how this can spook children though.

Speeding Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 17, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
JJ: Okay, so, one time, one of my friends was driving pretty late at night. She was speeding and
she got pulled over by a cop. And the cop was like, “Excuse me ma’am, do you know how fast
you’re going?” and she was like “I don’t” and he was like “Are you aware that you were
speeding?” and she was like “I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know.” So the officer was like, “Can I see
your license and registration?” and she’s like “sorry I don’t have either of those.” So the officer
was like, “What do you mean you don’t have either of those?” and she was like, “Sorry I stole
this car.” And he was like “What do you mean you stole this car?”
AA: What?
JJ: I know. So she says, um, “Yeah I killed the owner of the car. Stuffed him in the trunk and
drove away with this car.” So the officer starts freaking out and he calls backup on his radio.
And suddenly 10 police cars surround the vehicle, guns ready, spotlights on. So the head sherif
comes up to the car and he says, “excuse me ma’am I’ve been told that you don’t have your
license and registration?” She looks at him and hands him her license and registration of the
car. The sheriff looks a little confused because obviously the whole reason he was called over
was because she didn’t have her license or registration and there was supposed to be a dead
body in her car. He says, “excuse me, I heard you killed the driver and stuffed him in the trunk.”
And she says, “no, you can have a look for yourself.” So the sheriff opens up the trunk and
there’s nothing. He says to her, “The other officer said you killed a man and stole this car.” And
she says, “I suppose he told you I was speeding too?”

Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: Where did you first hear this joke?
JJ: The guy that works at the front desk of Trojan Hall told it to me.
AA: That’s cool. What does it mean to you?
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JJ: I just think it’s funny and I imagine myself doing it the next time I get pulled over.
Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
This joke is usually performed amongst friends or in Jonathan’s case, from elders to young
adults. He first heard this joke from an older gentleman that works in his dorm building at the
front desk. The guy told him several jokes but that was the only one Jonathan could remember.
He now uses it at the dinner table, with his friends while studying, and with his uber drivers.

Reflection
I think this joke is pretty funny and I had never heard it before the informant told me about it. I
can see myself telling this joke on a road trip and can see it being a very popular joke.

The Ghost of Point Vicente

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: March 2, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
BS: I’ll tell you something about PV
AA: What’s PV?
BS: Palos Verdes, my hometown. At point vicente there’s a story that goes that there’s a woman
who was the wife of a sailor and that she died super tragically so her ghost haunts the
lighthouse.
AA: Whose wife was she?
BS: She was the wife of the Vanderlipp, a famous sailer.
Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?

AA: Why do you know this piece?
BS: I heard it at the point vicente cultural center. It’s told to kids.
AA: What does it mean to you?
BS: To me it’s super spooky. Ghosts are real, ya know?
Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
This story is told to people touring Point Vicente in Palos Verdes, California. It is also told
amongst the Palos Verdes community between school children and community members.

Annotation
Mallon, Elaine. “A PALOS VERDES GHOST TALE: THE LEGEND OF THE HISTORIC
LIGHTHOUSE’S ‘LADY IN WHITE’.” ActiveRain, 26 July 2011,
activerain.com/blogsview/952590/a-palos-verdes-ghost-tale- the-legend-of-the-historic-lighthou
se-s- lady-in-white-.
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This citation is a published article in the Peninsula Palos Verdes News about the ghost at the
lighthouse. It explains that “In the darkness of night, this ‘woman’ forever haunts the historic
lighthouse. Time after time, the eerie ghost has been seen pensively pacing the upper tower
walkways in the dead of night. Walking… walking… waiting… waiting… pacing in private
vigilance until the rise of the sun. Then – like the moon gives way to the sunrise — she vanishes
with the fog until the dark of night returns again.”

Reflection
To me this is very interesting since I am from San Pedro, a neighboring town of Palos Verdes. I
have never heard of this or been to Point Vicente but think this is a cool part of the Palos Verdes
culture. There is not much of a distinction between Palos Verdes and San Pedro but this is
something I see as potentially defining of the two cities.