Author Archives: cdjohnst

About cdjohnst

Class of USC 2020

How to get rid of the Hiccups

Nationality: American
Age: 25
Occupation: Artist
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4 - 18 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So you’ve obviously had the hiccups at one point or another in your life… Do you have a special method of getting rid of them?

Informant: Oh I’ve heard a bunch of things. Like, get scared is a pretty big one that people say but like i’ve never seen it work. I’ve also heard of drinking a glass of water upside down but I’d rather just have the hiccups for 5 minutes than go through the effort of doing that haha

Interviewer: Yeah I’ve heard about the getting scared and drinking water upside down tactics too from some elementary school friends. So if that doesn’t really work, what do you do?

Informant: Well I forgot who actually told me this, it could have been my mom, but any time i get the hiccups i just take as deep of a breath as I can and then hold it in for as long as possible… and if you hiccup again you just start over until they’re gone… and that tends to do the trick for me haha

Background:

My Informant was born and raised in Southern California. Her parents immigrated from Europe and she is a first Generation American. She is a model and an artist and has exceedingly liberal views. 

Context:

I talked to my informant over a facetime video-call during the 2020 Coronavirus epidemic. We had plans to meet in person, however, the quarantine made that impossible. 

Thoughts:

It’s crazy how many different stories there are that are promised to “cure” the hiccups. I would be interested in a scientific study which tests which methods actually work (If any) and which methods are completely made up. Either way, it seems like hiccup cures are generated more within a family or smaller social group than throughout an entire society since there are not only so many different ideas, but they all vary so widely from one another as well so it seems like they were not derived from one another. 

Razor Blades for Halloween

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Environmental Scientist
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4 - 26 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So do you remember when we were kids trick or treating, and our parents used to tell us to be careful and check all the candy we got?

Informant: Yeah, dude, that was crazy! I remember my mom got all worked up about there being razorblades and prescription pills mixed in with what I got haha but I never got anything like that and neither did anyone I know literally ever…

Interviewer: Yeah same, do you have any clue where that rumor started?

Informant: I’m pretty sure it was just some online troll trying to fuck with people and then I think the story actually hit the news so parents started to freak, you know? I think it was all a bunch of bullshit though like I’ve actually seen people saying there’s molly in kids candy now but It’s gotta be just some hype-story so they can get people worked up and get more clicks and all that. 

Background:

My informant was born and raised in Southern California, fairly close to where I was raised as well. The area is more or less crime-free and very safe to raise children in. 

Context:

I spoke with my informant over a zoom facetime call during the 2020 Coronavirus epidemic. We had plans to meet in person, however, the virus made it impossible to do so.

Thoughts:

It’s funny how some people messing around on the internet can lead to a nationwide panic about something that’s not a real issue. This whole “Razor blades in candy” thing started as a joke online, and blew up when people started thinking it was actually happening in their hometowns. The fact that their children were potentially at risk was probably a huge factor in driving this legend to the point it is at today. 

For more information about the “Razor Blades in Candy” story, check the History.com article, “How Americans Became Convinced Their Halloween Candy Was Poisoned” at the link: https://www.history.com/news/how-americans-became-convinced-their-halloween-candy-was-poisoned

If You Keep Making that Face, it’ll Get Stuck That Way

Nationality: American
Age: 15
Occupation: NA
Residence: California
Performance Date: 3 - 20 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So did your parents used to tell you any funny things growing up to get you to behave?

Informant: they still do haha they think I’ll actually believe a lot of that stuff even though I can just look it up on my phone.

Interviewer: haha yeah I guess scare tactics don’t work as well if you can look up the truth a second later. What kind of stuff do they tell you?

Informant: Well my mom loves to tell me to not make funny faces or else my face will get stuck like that, but I know that’s not true so I just do it more now and it’s way funnier haha

Background:

My informant is a teenager living in Southern California, currently attending highschool. He is the last one of his siblings to still be living at home, and his Dad travels a lot for work, so it is mostly just him and his mom at home. 

Context:

I talked to my informant over a facetime call during the 2020 Coronavirus Epidemic. I was going to meet with him in person, however, the quarantine made that impossible to do. 

Thoughts:

I thought it was funny how different my informant reacted to what his mom would tell him than how people my age would. It’s only a 4-5 year gap, however, my age group didn’t have iPhones growing up so we couldn’t research everything on the spot. I trusted what my parents said as the truth until much later in life, and even after getting an iPhone, I never thought to fact check everything they’d say. Maybe it’s a rebellious teen thing to want to prove your parents wrong or something like that, and iPhones have made that easier than ever. 

Bloody Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arizona
Performance Date: 4 - 13 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: Have you heard about the legend of Bloody Mary?

Informant: Yeah man, that shit used to scare the hell outta me when we were kids. 

Interviewer: what exactly did you have to do to make her appear?

Informant: Well at my elementary school, I know there was only one bathroom that everyone said it would work in, which was the girls bathroom funnily enough. We’d have to get in there, turn off the lights, and stare at the mirror while saying Bloody Mary 3 times, I honestly never did it myself though because I was scared enough of the dark on its own hahaha.

Background:

My informant was born and raised in Southern California. He went through the public education system and has extremely liberal views. He now lives in Arizona for college. 

Context:

I spoke to my informant over a zoom facetime call during the 2020 Coronavirus Epidemic.

Thoughts:

It’s interesting how such a massive legend can have so many little details that change from place to place. Also, I was amused that the kids at my informants elementary school thought it would only work in the girls bathroom… so everyone who knew the legend must have gone to that bathroom to do it? Legends are definitely more believable through a child’s eyes, and that’s probably why some legends have been able to last for so long. A child learns it in their young age, and it sticks with them so much that they end up passing it along to the next generation. 

Puff Puff Pass

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: NA
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3-17-2020
Primary Language: English
Language: California

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So you’re an avid weed smoker, right?

Informant: oh yeah, I’ve been smoking basically everyday since highschool. 

Interviewer: Dope, dope my guy… So I know there’s a lot of stoner-specific terms which are thrown around when people are smoking together, do you have any idea what some of these would be?

Informant: Yeah definitely, for starters, a lot of my friends call weed “kush” or “bud” amongst a bunch of other things haha… and everyone knows the whole 4:20 hype, but I’d say the biggest one by far is “puff puff pass”. 

Interviewer: and what does “Puff Puff Pass” Actually mean?

Informant: It’s basically when you’re smoking a joint or something and you’re supposed to only take two puffs before you pass it to the next person in the rotation. It’s mostly a respect thing just so everyone’s getting their fair share of bud and all that. 

Background:

My informant is from Minnesota, growing up with a mix of liberal and conservative friends. His parents were both born in America, however, have more republican views than my informant’s more liberal views. Even though he lived in Minnesota, weed is still very prevalent amongst the youth there. He moved to California for college and his smoking habits have stayed more or less the same. 

Thoughts:

I think it’s interesting how stoner culture is generally looked at in a negative light, with people saying they’re lazy or disrespectful, while in reality, they have countless sayings and proverbs enforcing moral “rules” on how to be the best smoke buddy. I also found it interesting that stoner culture’s around the world use the phrase “puff puff pass” even though most of the other slang that people use tends to  vary a lot between places and age groups.