Author Archives: Tina Crnko

Baghdad…and Mom too

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2014-04-29
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Baghdad. And get the mother and the children too.”

The informant heard this joke from her older brother, who was a teenager during the height of the Iraq War. This particular joke is interesting because it is very dated. Much of its humor has been lost given that the conflict in Iraq has dissipated in the last 5 years. The joke is less relevant now that Baghdad is referenced less frequently and is less entrenched in the public discourse. However, the informant can remember finding it quite funny, as did her brother, when she first heard it.

Marco in the Meadows

Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 52
Occupation: grant writer
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: 2014-04-10
Language: Slovenian, English, German, Serbian

“Marco skače, Marco skače

po zeleni trati,

Aj aj ajajaj

Po zeleni trati.”

Translation:

“Marco is jumping

over the green meadows

aj aj ajajaj

over the green meadows”

This is a traditional Slovenian nursery rhyme, one that I was raised listening to as my mother sang it to me as a child. She said that it was a song generally sung with many children who held hands and danced in circles. The informant has no information as to its origin or its meaning, though the reference to meadows suggests a more rural origin.

SigEp Gold Shorts and Vest

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Vancouver, Canada
Performance Date: 2014-02-15
Primary Language: English
Language: French

Every pledge class president of Sigma Phi Epsilon must wear gold shorts and an American flag vest during their live-in week of their pledge semester. Live-in week is the last week of pledging where you essentially live in the house and become everyone’s bitch for a week. You stay in the house on the floor with your whole pledge class, and you only leave to go to class.”

The informant was unclear as to whether or not this hazing ritual was a national tradition. However, he was certain that it was the case at USC, given that he was forced to do it, as pledge class president.

The Kappa Cow

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 2014-03-10
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

“So I’ve heard from other people in my sorority that in USC’s Kappa Kappa Gamma, every week at Monday night dinners, every girl in the chapter is weighed. And at the end of the weighing, the heaviest girl is named ‘the Kappa Cow’ for the week. Apparently they give her a little plastic cow figurine. It’s messed up.”

This account depends entirely on hearsay, making it all the more interesting. As the informant is a member of a rivaling sorority, it is possible that the story was invented slanderously. However, this particular hazing practice corroborates that image of Kappa Kappa Gamma, as an aggressively looks-oriented sorority, that seems to pervade USC. As with most hazing practices, this ritual promotes unhealthy body image, but reaffirms the dominance of older member of the sorority over the new members. Such practices are allegedly “team-building” and “character building,” at which I roll my eyes.

Don’t Throw Rocks At Glass Houses

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 2014-04-29
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Don’t throw rocks at glass houses.”

The informant learn this proverb from her mother when she was very young, and it was deeply entrenched in her consciousness. It influenced her so much that once when she was faced with a bully who was verbally abusing her, she looked at the bully dead in the face and spoke the proverb. Then she explained to the bully, “That saying meant that everyone is fragile, and you can’t just carelessly throw insults someone’s way and expect them to be alright when it’s all over.”

So for the informant, not only does she have a deeply intimate connection to it because her mother would continuously say it to her, bringing her comfort, but it also steeled herself against a bully who supposedly stood down to her and apologized.