Author Archives: Amelia Getahun

Someone died at EVK

Nationality: Persian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/08/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

My friend, a 19-year-old USC student, shared with me a campus legend that she heard from another student when she was a freshman.

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“Okay. Um, so freshman year… wait, back up. So at USC, there are three dining halls, and EVK is, like, the worst one. So it’s kind of like a running joke, just like about how bad it is, like someone found a caterpillar in their salad there…yeah. It’s bad. So, anyways, our freshman year, like week 2 of school, there was this rumor going around about how this one kid had died at EVK. And I don’t know if this actually happened, like, if there was an actual guy at USC who died, but if he’s real, I’m like a hundred percent sure it wasn’t because he ate at EVK. So I think that part is way exaggerated. But anyways, the story was that he caught norovirus from eating at EVK, and then it got so bad that he had to be airlifted to Cedars-Sinai. And the reason no one ever talks about it is because apparently his aunt was on the board of USC, and she, like, threatened the news orgs and stuff that wanted to report on it, and that’s why there’s all those “wash your hand so you don’t get norovirus” signs at EVK now.”

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This story is particularly fascinating to me because I had also heard it my freshman year at USC. USC has a rich tradition of campus lore, but this is one of the more recent pieces of folklore I have encountered at USC, and it is probably less widespread because it is more of a parody folk legend. It is highly unlikely that something like this ever happened or that dining hall food would cause someone to die. In fact, almost all of the story is implausible, which makes this legend all the more interesting; it means that the people who hear it and spread it are suspending their disbelief in order to participate in a piece of USC culture. Folklore is often a way people connect, and the in-group aspect of being able to joke with someone else about how bad a dining hall is through a legend solidifies one’s identity as a USC student, as someone who would know what EVK is and why the story takes place there.

 

The Serial Pooper

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Amherst, MA
Performance Date: 03/12/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Chinese

The informant is my 20-year-old friend from Washington, D.C. He heard this campus legend about our Quaker high school from upperclassmen students when he was a freshman.

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“So in high school, there was this legend–I don’t know if it’s a legend, because everyone says it’s true, but no one knows who it was and it happened in one of the graduating classes before we got to high school. I don’t know. Anyways, whenever we had Meeting for Worship, which is basically the whole school once a week goes to this big room and sits in silence for a class period to reflect, or think, or whatever…anyways, whenever we had meeting, there was this guy who would go and poop on one of the desks in the classrooms. And this happened for, like, WEEKS on end. And everyone was going crazy trying to figure out who this person was and how to catch them. And then, so, one week, when everyone was in the Meeting room, they had the entire upper school on lockdown. And they were making sure to see who was leaving Meeting to go to the bathroom or whatever, and they made sure no one was entering the upper school and no one was in the hallways. Anyways, so there’s no incident, and they all go back to class. And everyone thinks the thing is over. But then, the middle schoolers get out of their meeting for worship, and when they go back to class, someone had come and pooped on one of the middle-school desks. And they never figured out who this person was.”

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Campus legends have always been particularly interesting to me, and this one is especially compelling because it is so specific to the age group of high schoolers. Legends stipulate by their definition that there must be an element of doubt as to whether or not the story is true, and such doubt about this story could only exist in this particular age group. High schoolers are at probably one of the only ages where a story about someone going around pooping on desks could be true, because this would not be a plausible story in the adult world, nor could it realistically happen in younger age groups, because not only of the planning required but also because their rebellions against authority are almost always more tame than those of older children. Though this is clearly example of the counter-hegemonic bend of most children’s and young adults’ lore, this particular legend could be interpreted as counter-hegemonic in more ways than one–it could be pure strategy to use the Meeting for Worship period to poop on desks, but it also could be a rebellion against the he spirit of Meeting for Worship, which is something religious and of high importance in Quakerism.

 

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe

Nationality: Ethiopian-American
Age: 9
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Buena Park, CA
Performance Date: 04/18/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Amharic

The informant is my 9-year-old cousin, who lives in Buena Park, California. I asked her about what rhymes she knew, and she shared this one with me. Though she could not remember where she first heard it, she believes it was from other kids at school when she was younger.
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“Eenie Meenie Miney Moe/catch a tiger by the toe/if he hollers make him pay/fifty dollars every day/red, white, and blue/I choose you.”
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This was particularly interesting to me, because this is a rhyme that is fairly universal in children’s lore. Though these were not the lyrics I remember from when I was younger, I recited a version of this rhyme when I was growing up, and almost everyone I know also knows this rhyme. The fact that this rhyme has been so widespread and also has so many different versions demonstrates the “multiplicity and variation” of folklore as laid out by Dundes. The “red, white, and blue” part of the rhyme was particularly interesting to me, because it made this version specific to the U.S. Because this rhyme exists in the United Kingdom as well as in other English-speaking countries, I thought it was interesting that this version specifically referenced the colors of the American flag. After doing some research, I found that different versions of the rhyme have arisen over time, each of them reflecting the specific time period during which they were invented. For example, during World War II, children in Atlanta recited this version of the rhyme: “Eenie, meenie, minie, moe/Catch the emperor by his toe/If he hollers make him say:/’I surrender to the USA.'” There have also been racist variations of this rhyme using the n-word that appeared in the mid- to late-1800s, around the time of the Civil War.
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For more versions of this rhyme, see “Counting-out Rhymes: A Dictionary” by R. D. Abrahams and L. Rankin. (R. D. Abrahams and L. Rankin, Counting-out Rhymes: a Dictionary (University of Texas Press, 1980)).

The Second Floor of Marks Tower is Haunted

Nationality: Persian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/08/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

The informant is friend of mine from San Jose, California who attends USC. When I was investigating campus lore, she shared with me this legend that circulated her building freshman year.

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“So, basically, when we were living in Marks Tower, the floors are single-sex, but the building is co-ed. So it alternates, like, second floor is boys, third is girls, fourth is boys…basically, even numbers are boys and odds are girls. And, so, because we were living there the whole year, we kind of got to know most people in the building. Like, not all of them, but I would recognize people’s faces and stuff. And so, um, basically, as the year went on, we kind of noticed that…well, I noticed, and I guess other people were noticing, but basically, we noticed that we were never meeting anyone from the second floor. And all the people I asked, none of them had met anyone who lived on the second floor either. So, like, it kind of became this thing, like, “oh, the second floor is haunted, no one actually lives there.” So yeah it was kind of like this building legend where you would say to people “Oh have you met anyone on the second floor yet?” and every time they would answer no.”

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I found this legend interesting, because it seemed like an example of parody folk belief. Obviously, everyone in the building knew there had to be people living on the second floor, but they suspended their disbelief for the sake of the legend that the floor was haunted. It is very hard to believe that no one in the entire building had ever encountered someone from the second floor, so I suspect some people lied to keep the legend going. This demonstrates an interesting and cool thing about legends, and folklore in general: they tie people together and create common ground. The existence of this legend allowed the people living in that building to participate in the shared identity of “people who live in Marks Tower.” I also thought it was interesting that floor numbers were also a place that people found identity, or that being a second-floor resident would be a way to mark someone’s identity in the larger group of Marks Tower residents.

Parting expression among friends

Nationality: African-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Washington, D.C.
Performance Date: 04/10/19
Primary Language: English

The subject (SG) is my close friend from high school in Washington, D.C. who now attends college in Cambridge, MA. I asked her when we were on Facetime whether she had any dites, proverbs, or expressions she wanted to share, and she volunteered this joking expression our friends use when we’re together.

Note: The initials SG denote the informant, while A refers to me, the interviewer.

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TEXT: “Have fun, stay safe!”

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SG: Okay. So basically, whenever one of us leaves the room, we all say “have fun, stay safe!” Like, regardless of where they’re going. Even if they’re going to the bathroom or, like, getting something from the next room.

A: How did it start? Do you remember?

SG: Uh, well, at first it was something Y [another one of our friends] would say. Like, she’d always say that, completely in earnest, and we always used to make fun of her because, like,  what’s going to happen to us on the way to the bathroom? [laughs] Or like, does she think we’ll get jumped … in the hallway? going to class? [laughs] And so then we started doing it too, like, imitating her, to the extreme. Like, if one of us would get up to put something in the garbage … do you remember? We’d all yell “have fun, stay safe!”

A: [laughs]. Yeah. Um, so why do you, or I guess we, still say it now? Why do you think we still use it?

SG: Well, I guess over time, it kind of just became force of habit. Like, it stopped being a joke so much and it was just something we said. And now I feel like I kind of have to say it, you know? Otherwise … I don’t know. We’ll have bad luck or something. You know?

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I thought this particular inside joke was really interesting when viewed in context of female friendships and a larger women’s folklore. The expression doesn’t really have much deeper meaning on its own, but it is a version of a common parting expression used among most women, which is “call me when you get home/get there,” or, more commonly today, “text me.” These phrases specifically allude to the danger that women disproportionately face when traveling alone, especially at night, but looking after one another’s safety is a chief part of female friendships; women are encouraged to travel in groups, often protect their friends from predatory men, and in recent years, are more likely to have each other’s locations shared on their smartphones. Phrases like these reinforce gender solidarity and a general feeling of sisterhood and community, but also somewhat unfairly place the burden of being safe on women, when the danger they are supposed to protect themselves from is almost always due to external factors and, most often, men themselves. For me, hearing “have fun, stay safe” has always been both a joke and a gentle reminder of the community that cares about my safety.