Author Archives: Sydney Marquez

Pass the Salt Shaker

Nationality: Bolivian and Irish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oxnard, CA
Performance Date: 04/28/2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

So when you have a saltshaker, in my family you have to put it on the table before someone else can pick it up. You can’t just hand it hand-to-hand because they think you are going to have an argument or fight with them.

 

Who started this in your family?

I have no idea. It must be from where my mom’s from [Bolivia], because my aunt—not really my aunt—family friend does the same thing and she’s like really hardcore about it.

 

Do you abide to it?

Do I pass the salt hand-to-hand? Yes. Cause I don’t believe in it.

 

But the rest of your family does?

Yes, my mom’s side of the family.

 

Have you actually seen arguments start because of someone passing the salt hand-to-hand?

No, I’ve never seen an argument start cause of this.

 

But it’s just a known thing in your family?

Yeah.

 

My Reaction:

Based off of every Latin family I’ve ever met, I can conclusively say that Latin people are a very superstitious people. Since this is something that Val’s Bolivian side of the family withholds, it makes complete sense that some of them are very adamant about it. It is strange to me that even if they know nothing will happen if they do pass the salt-shaker hand-to-hand, that some people still abide by it, but I guess that there are just some things you do because you’re used to it more than anything.

Superman Turned Off the Lights

Nationality: African American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC - on campus housing
Performance Date: 04/28/2013
Primary Language: English

When I was in elementary school, for some reason, the power went out, like quite a few times at my elementary school. So basically, I don’t know why, I guess I was in first grade, so I didn’t get the whole story, but basically they said it was like the “Superman Curse,” like Superman turned off all the lights.

 

And this was a known thing at your school?

Yeah. Like I’m pretty sure I didn’t come up with, like somebody said like, “oh, it’s superman.” And I was like, “what”? And some kid was like, he heard it last year in kindergarten. And this was my first year at that school, so I was really confused. So every time, I guess it’s cause I lived in Baghdad for elementary school. And so every time the power would go off at my elementary school, oh would be like, “oh, it was superman thing,” or whatever. I don’t know why it’s called superman. I just remember that Superman turned the lights off.

 

Did other kids say it?

 Yeah. That’s how I picked it up.

 

Was it a bad thing or more like a fact?

I think it was more like a fact, I don’t think it was like a bad thing, it was just like, “oh the power went off, it must be superman.”

 

My Reaction:

I found it interesting that the person I interviewed for this lived in Baghdad at the time he heard about the “Superman Curse”. This makes me wonder if it was something that was common in other school’s in Baghdad. Otherwise, it’s just something that someone came up with at his school that just stuck and spread. This does seem like a very childish thing to do. Kids don’t just think the power goes out, there’s always a reason for it, so it makes sense that they would want to attribute it to something to give cause the the things that happened.

Bloody Mary

Nationality: Italian
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 04/29/2013
Primary Language: English

There’s always the myth that around midnight – at least it’s that way with my brother and friends – that at midnight if you go to a mirror and turn off all the lights and say “Bloody Mary.” three times that she’ll show up and that she’ll throw a rose at you that will turn you inside out, like your guts come out and everything. And the rule is, as she throws the rose just before she hits you say “Candyman. Candyman. Candyman” and the Candyman comes out from the movies and he protects it.

 

From the movies?

Yeah. Well, he doesn’t come out from the movies, but like you know, the candyman. Yeah. And then you have 2 monsters that you have to deal with. And uh, I guess my brother made up that you have to say “Chuckie. Chuckie. Chuckie.”  And then Chuckie comes out. And you just keep building monsters.

 

And they just fight each other?

Yeah.

Did you ever try this?

No, we were too scared to.

 

Where did you guys hear this from?

Like my brother would just make it up. It was him.

 

But you heard the “Bloody Mary” thing from someone?

Yeah. No, that was like everyone like always shared that story.

 

And your brother decided to add the rest of it?

Yeah.

 

Just because?

Just because, I don’t know why. I think cause it didn’t seem like it had closure to it. So that’s why it’s like, oh she shows up and then she throws a rose at you, that turns you inside out, but if you do this, this and that, like you know?

 

So where did you hear about the rose and the inside out part of the story? I’d never heard of that before.

My brother.

 

He’s a creative fellow?

He’s a jackass.

 

Did you tell anyone about this particular variation?

Yeah. I told everyone.

 

And no one ever did it?

No. They were too scared.

 

The “at midnight” part, did your brother make that up too? Or was that always part of it?

I remember it being explained like that.

 

By other kids?

Yeah.

 

Have you still not tried it to this day?

No. I’m too scared.

 

My Reaction:

Who hasn’t heard of the “Bloody Mary” thing before? Everyone I know has heard of some variation of this. I had never heard of it having to take place at midnight, so it was interesting when Mike told me that for him, midnight was part of the process. I guess that would only amplify the scariness of it. Because when you’re young, late night is scary. It’s quiet and dark and not as many people are awake, and this makes you feel more vulnerable. But regardless of the time of day, I still, to this day, have never tried to do the “Bloody Mary” thing. I honestly don’t believe that anything would happen, but there’s still that part of you this is nervous that maybe something could happen. As for Mike’s crazy variation on the “Bloody Mary” thing, I wonder if other kids ever added to it because I’ve never heard of something like that before.

Coke Will Kill You

Nationality: African American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC - on campus housing
Performance Date: 04/28/2013
Primary Language: English

I remember when I was little, I would go to this little camp thing at the sports center, um, in my town, and they had this health guy come in and he basically said, like, you can’t drink sodas because they’re really bad for you. But the thing is, like how he described it. I guess he did it as a scare tactic cause he also said, like, if you drink sodas what it does it like it crystallizes in your stomach and it makes your stomach hard and like makes a hole in your stomach. So like, I guess I just thought I was a bad ass and kept drinking sodas but at the same time in the back of my mind, I always felt like I was slowly killing myself drinking sodas, like a hole was just gonna form in my stomach.

 

So how old were you?

I was probably like, early elementary school.

 

And this was at a camp?

Yeah it was at this little—I think it was at a summer program at a sports center at the Swarny Sports Academy.

 

When did you figure out that this wasn’t true?

I don’t know. I guess went I kept drinking sodas so much and my stomach never like burst a hole in it that I was like, well this guy was obviously a douche bag.

 

Did you ever tell other kids that? That soda was going to kill them?

No I didn’t. But I just knew it myself, and I guess that just stuck in the back of my mind.

 

So he told this to all the kids?

Yeah, he told that to everyone.

 

Did that stop anyone?

I don’t think so.

 

My Reaction:

Of course, I know that soda is bad for you. And I also know that coke can effectively be used to clean a toilet bowl. However, I never heard someone say that soda would crystallize in your stomach and poke a hole in you. I’m not sure whether the person who made this claim actually believed in it or not, but the odds are that he just tried to use this to stop kids from drinking so much soda. Over a long period of time, too much soda can lead to health issues, so while it’s an exaggeration, there is some validity to the idea that soda will cause bad things to happen to your body.

“If you aren’t living life on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

Nationality: Western European
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC - on campus housing
Performance Date: 04/28/2013
Primary Language: English

Okay, who told this to you?

That was my friends and I, I don’t think it’s an original thing, but my friend who surfs, like I surf, and he surfs. Um so we like always got the thing like, “you’re such an inspiration for surfing.” And we’re like no, we just have fun, and he’s in a wheelchair also. And um, I don’t think it’s original, but um, we were like “if you’re not living life on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” So, it became a thing between us.

 

So just you two say this?

And, like um, it’s mostly us two, but—

 

Is there an origin to this, or do you think maybe you heard something similar to this, and kind of formed from that?

I mean it doesn’t seem like it would be original, you know I just assume. I don’t know exactly if it is original or not, it seems like something someone could have come up with.

 

So you heard it, and subconsciously came up with it?

Probably, something like that.

 

My Reaction:

The person that I collected this particular piece of folklore from has been in a wheelchair ever since he’s grown up, and based on the things I’ve heard from his family and close friends, he’s always been so optimistic and has never viewed his wheelchair as a handicap. I think that this little sentiment that he gave me proves that. I remember one time, someone asked him what he would do if he could walk again, and he responded by asking if he would still be able to play wheelchair sports. This just goes to show how positive he is about his situation and that you should push yourself to the limit.