Author Archives: feldfebe

The “Sphinx” Riddle

Nationality: Cuban-American
Occupation: Attorney
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish
  1. The “Sphinx” Riddle:

“What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?” “Man”.

  1. My father had heard this riddle a long time ago from one of his professors in college. The professor actually offered extra credit to anyone in the class that was able to solve this riddle. My dad was actually pretty good at solving riddles, but with this one in particular he remembered he had an extremely difficult time solving.
  2. Aside from just being a complex riddle people enjoy sharing with others, this riddle is actually significant in Ancient Drama. In the Greek play titled, Oedipus Tyranny, this riddle is featured as the riddle that destroyed the sphinx. Due to this play, this riddle is commonly recognized as the “Sphinx Riddle”.
  3. I actually thought that this riddle was also extremely difficult to solve as well. Even after the answer was given to me I was still slightly confused by it. After a thorough explanation of the answer, I understood the riddle. I think since the answer itself was as complex as the riddle, this is what truly made it nearly impossible to solve on your own without any extra help or guidance.

The Ghost in the TV

Nationality: Cuban-American
Occupation: Attorney
Primary Language: English
  1. My father used to not believe in ghosts, until one day he was absolutely convinced that what he saw could now have been his imagination.

“One day I was just sitting in the living on the couch, watching TV. First of all, let me tell you that I’ve always known that this specific house would have strange noises and weird things happening with the electricity and power- like things will randomly turn on and off, doors would slam shut even though it wasn’t windy… But I’ve always just assumed it was due to the fact that this house was just really old. Like, there’s always an explanation behind this kind of stuff, right? Well anyways, so I was sitting on the couch watching TV, when all of a sudden, the TV just shuts off. What I see immediately on the black screen is my own reflection, of course, but then I also see the reflection of what looks like a woman from the Victorian era, with a huge wig and long gown, seated right next to me. I was so shocked; I was just frozen. I couldn’t move. I looked to my side, but no one was there! I then looked back to the screen and, just like that, she was gone. To this day I cannot comprehend what I just saw, and I don’t think it can be anything other than a ghost of some sort. After this incident, I would definitely say that I believe in ghosts.”

  1. I had asked my dad if he had any ghost stories, or supernatural stories, that he wanted to share with me. He does not normally share or talk about any of these kinds of things, so I thought it would be interesting if he did have something to share with me. Even though at the time he seems confident in what he saw was a ghost, he is still a little skeptical. I remember asking him again recently if he remembered this story and he kind of brushed it off. It was almost like he didn’t want to talk about it. He thinks that it might just have been the fact that he was exhausted and saw something that wasn’t there, or maybe he was so tired that he only assumed the TV was off, but maybe it was still on.
  2. I do not think he would have been willing to share this story with just anyone. This seemed to be a very personal event for him, and he does not like to share these kind of things with others. Especially since he is still skeptical about the whole ordeal himself.
  3. I believe that he had saw something that probably should not have been there. I especially believe this since my dad is not the type of person to make things like this up, and is a very skeptic person in general. The fact that this story has stuck with him years afterward also shows me that this must have been pretty significant to him.

The Banana Song

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
  1. The Banana Song:

Bananas Unite!

Form banana, form form banana then you

Peel banana peel peel banana

Eat bananas, eat eat bananas

Then you chop bananas chop chop bananas

Mash bananas mash mash banana

GO bananas, GO GO bananas!!!

  1. A fellow classmate actually taught him this song with the accompanying hand gestures as well. The classmate had learned the song from his cousin that teaches songs like these to preschool children, and they thought that the song was both catchy and funny.
  2. This song is normally sung, with hand gestures, in elementary and preschool classrooms as a way to keep the children entertained and engaged in the learning. Usually the teachers or teacher assistants will begin the song/dance and the children are then encouraged to follow along. Sometimes the kids will recite the song again on their own during recess or play time. The kids especially seem to enjoy the end of the song, where it says “GO bananas…” so they can be silly and have fun.
  3. I thought that this was also a funny song and dance. I feel like it is catchy for children of all ages, and would definitely be something perfect for me to try when I am babysitting.

“Scrubs”

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
  1. My brother is a Freshman in high school now, and prior to starting high school he had heard that the older kids would always bully the little freshmen and call them ‘scrubs’. He said that the term came from the fact that the older kids would grab freshmen, carry them into the bathrooms, and use them to clean the toilet bowls like a toilet bowl scrubber.
  2. He learned the term from his fellow classmates. They were fearing what it would be like to go through the transition from middle school to high school, and some of the kids had even heard some awful rumors about high school from older siblings they had. My brother knew about this specific rumor since it was the one that was repeated and talked about the most among the middle school students. For him it emphasized the fears he had of starting high school and how badly he wanted to stay young.
  3. Usually terms like these, relating to high school, are discussed among the younger grade levels since they fear the unknown and do not know yet what they should expect out of high school. Sometimes these phrases are even used as scare tactics if they are told by upperclassmen just to prank the younger children and make them feel like they should be afraid of high school.
  4. I remember hearing this term back when I was in middle school. I do not remember being especially afraid or worried though, even after hearing this phrase. I was actually excited about starting high school, and was not going to let any silly little rumors scare me before I even got to high school. It was funny that once I had started high school too, all of the rumors like this one went away and were not even mentioned. It was definitely something that was more emphasized in the elementary and middle school grade levels.

Chinese Superstition: Bed facing the Doorway

Nationality: Chinese
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English
  1. My mother shared with me a Chinese superstition:

“If a bed is facing a doorway, that is extremely bad luck. I mean to say, if the feet are facing the doorway, not the head. I’ve heard that it calls in bad spirits and omens to come and drag you by your feet and out through the doorway while you’re asleep.”

  1. She had heard this superstition from her own mother when she had asked why she couldn’t place her bed in that specific way in her bedroom. She had said that her friend had her room set up in this way and she thought it looked nicer, so she wanted to try it as well. Her mom refused and then shared this superstition with her. My mother believed this, and stopped asking to shift the bed this way. Her friend that had had her bedroom set up in this way was ill a lot of the time, which my mother believed then must have been due to this superstition. Just to be precautious, she still abides by this superstition and will not set up any bedrooms in her home in this way.
  2. This superstition can easily be dismissed as false and untrue by many, so I believe you should be cautious if you decide to share this with others. My mother was told this superstition because her family strongly believes in superstitions such as these, so I believe that in this situation it makes more sense to share such a belief.
  3. I personally do not believe or agree with this superstition, but at the same time my room has never been set up in this way. If in the future I find it necessary to place my bed in front of the doorway, I believe that I would without much thought to this superstition, but only because I do not think you should necessarily allow yourself to be swayed by something like this.