This idiom reveals an element of the informant’s workplace culture. The informant divulged that this phrase is commonly said by exasperated co-workers and often accompanied by a sigh. This particular idiom is a sarcastic remark that serves as a reaction to the workplace pressure and the daily grind of listening to bosses’ demands, going to meetings, making presentations, ensuring that assignments are completed before they are due, and placating customers. This idiom is usually expressed by the employees as they walk past each other in the hallways or when one passes by another sitting at his or her cubicle. By sharing this sentiment in an open forum, those who say the idiom create a collective consciousness of the common pressures facing all who work in that environment in a showing of solidarity.
Category Archives: Customs
“Post-Race Ritual”
The informant rowed for the University of California, Berkeley’s lightweight crew team for four years before graduating. He rowed in numerous regattas throughout his athletic career in college, and describes a ritual that he observed―and practiced―at the end of every race. The informant continues rowing recreationally and recounted the practice of the ritual in his apartment, where he had just returned from an early morning row out in the Oakland estuary.
After a race, if you lose, you are traditionally supposed to remove the tank top that you wore during the race and give it to the winning crew. Why do we do it? It is almost like you’re paying tribute to the winning crew. In most crew races you don’t receive a medal, so it’s almost like the honorable thing to do if you lose is to give something of yours to the winners. It’s a very long-standing tradition. I learned very quickly after I lost my first race. I just observed some of the older varsity members take off their tanks―well, traditionally the practice began with taking the actual tank off of your back. That’s kind of gross in a lot of ways because you’re sweaty and it’s a bit nasty so what most people end up doing is bringing extra tanks to any given regatta so we can hand out fresh tanks if we lose. You go over to the opposing crew and you meet the guy who sits in your seat. So, let’s say if I was in the bow, then I would go up to the bow seat in the winning crew. I would introduce myself, make a little awkward small talk, and then hand my tank to him. The winners might collect a lot of tanks depending and how many boats were in the race. Some boats don’t abide by this tradition, but then they’re considered as assholes.
The collection of the informant’s story immediately following his morning practice is of particular importance because of the informant’s demeanor during his retelling. He spoke softly and his eyes looked distant, as if he were recalling the memories of former races with nostalgia. This suggests that, despite the fact that the informant surrendered many of his own tanks to opposing crews, the ritual itself was more important as it functions as an integral part of the rower’s experience. Similar practices are seen in other sports―notably, soccer―but not perhaps as formalized as the ritual the informant describes.
It is also interesting to note that the ritual has adapted over the years and teams now bring a fresh set of tanks to the regatta, raising the issue that hygiene has perhaps taken precedence over the value of the losing rowers’ hard work manifested in his sweaty tank. In this case, it seems the act of surrendering the tank may now be more significant than the tank itself as a symbol.
Snipe Hunting
Audio Performance:
Transcript:
“So when I was a kid, my Dad and I would go camping with an organization similar to boy scouts. And they’d take up snipe hunting. And snipe hunting was like this bird-like creature that you go hunting with — you get a sack, like those huge burlap sacks, and you go with a flashlight and you try to catch these birds. And it has to be like… every boy needs to experience it because as you’re doing this, my Dad was telling me the stories of when he camped out trying to hunt snipes by himself. But really all it ends up being are all the dads behind throwing rocks and making sounds, but the kids are just going beserk, like yelling at all these snipes sticking in their bags, are It’s just like a great fun thing to do for both a son and a dad.”
This folk custom takes the idea of a “snipe hunt”, which is more conventionally a prank, and turns it into almost a rite of passage between fathers and sons, because the focus was less on actually trying to hunt (or find) the mythical snipes, but also to have a bonding experience. In addition, the change of snipe from hard-to-find-bird to mythical creature gives the custom a bit more whimsy, making it less of a mean-spirited prank and more a collective experience.
Blarney Stone Variation
“It’s a stone in the wall of a castle, and you have to kiss it upside down. If you do, you gain the wisdom of all Irishmen, if you’re Irish.”
Like the variation on the Banshee, this version of the Blarney Stone belief/custom also has a major variation. While actual custom that’s supposed to be acted out at the Blarney Stone (kissing it upside-down), the effect, which is often cited as gaining the “gift of gab”, has been made significantly more heroic-sounding: now, after kissing the Blarney Stone, Irish people gain the “wisdom of all Irishmen”. Once again, this is perhaps due to the influence of American legends on Irish folklore, the Stone’s power made nicer-sounding and easier to understand than the “gift of gab”.
Grasping Test
MATERIAL
小孩满一周岁时，很多家庭会给孩子“抓周”，也就是在桌子上摆放不同的东西，比如笔、钱币、印章等等，让孩子去抓，看孩子最先抓到什么来预测孩子长大后会往哪个方向发展。比如抓到笔，表示孩子以后会走学术之路；如果抓到钱币，表示孩子以后会做生意。
After a child has his or her first birthday, many parents will give him or her the “grasping test”. This test involves putting different items on a table in front of a child. These items symbolize different things and the test is to see which item the child grabs first. Depending on which item he or she grabs, it is said that the child’s future lies with what the items symbols. For example, many parents will put a pen, a coin, and a rubber stamp in front of their children. If they grab the pen, it means they will be very academically driven and smart. If they grab the coin, it means they will be very rich and successful. If they grab the stamp, it means they have a future in politics.
ANALYSIS
This reflects the Chinese philosophy that with the proper dedication, you can do whatever you set your mind to. Everything that the parents set out for the baby to grasp leads to success – they just represent different types of successes and futures. There are no failure options for the baby to grasp. This also reflects on the stereotypical future-obsessive Asian parent. In China, parents are very much so hands-on in their child’s education and future. There is the thought that they have to give their child more opportunities than they were given as children.
My informant is my mother and on my first birthday party, she set the three items mentioned above along with a small flute in front of me. I grabbed the pen and the flute simultaneously, which led my parents to enroll me in many extracurricular musical activities and academic clubs. In turns out that I am very musically driven and love learning. My informant clearly believes in this folk tradition, because it has held true in her experience, but I believe that it is also kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I had chosen instead the stamp, maybe my parents would have enrolled me in Model UN and other political activities instead of piano lessons, thus acquiring my taste for politics.