Category Archives: Humor

Rolling Coal: A Truck-Driver’s Prank

Nationality: Jewish-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Memphis, TN
Performance Date: 4/25/19
Primary Language: English

Context: I asked the informant if he would like to collaborate to work on our collection projects, and invited him to my dorm room at USC. We began chatting about various forms of folklore that would fit into our collections, and he informed me that high schoolers at his former high school school had a tradition of pranking people in their trucks. Essentially, he told me, there was a practice called ‘rolling coal,’ involving the exhaust of the car and a cloud of black smoke. Intrigued, I asked him if he could elaborate, and began to record.

Transcription:

WD: What’s like, that thing you were telling me about people’s exhausts in Memphis? What’s that called?

EG: Oh, rolling coal? I mean, I don’t really remember the mechanics of it or anything but…

WD: Oh, don’t worry, just tell me what you remember about it!

EG: Okay, so, I went to  high school in Memphis, Tennessee, so it’s a southern town with a lot of southerners. So, down there, what a lot of southerners take great pride in is having a big truck. I mean, people will spend… thousands and thousands of dollars…

WD: To jack that shit up, huh?

EG: Yeah, exactly, to jack their truck up, lift kits, and all this other stuff, new lights… a hook thingy…

WD: You know, bullshit.

EG: Yeah, bat-mobile type stuff. Um…. And so, there’s a group of kids at my high school who all did that. And, there’s also this other thing they do, mostly douchebags with trucks do, called rolling coal. What they do is modify the exhaust pipe on their truck, so that when they rev the engine hard enough, just black soot and smoke will come out. You can’t see through it, even, since it’s so thick.

WD: Kind of gross, but okay… then what?

EG: So, people at my high school used to drive around town, they would roll up to somebody on the sidewalk and ask them, “Do you like to smoke?” And even before the person can reply, all they do is floor it, and it’ll blast the person on the sidewalk with this disgusting, black smoke, and they just get totally obliterated.

WD: It’s kind of a flex though, because then the person will look in the distance at the souped up truck as it drives away.

EG: Yeah. It’s both a prank and a way to show off your truck, I guess.

Informant: The informant is a 19 year old student at the University of Southern California. He is from Memphis, Tennessee, and is Jewish-American.  He had both seen and heard of the prank, since a group of kids at his high school (he referred to them as the “Truck Kids”) found it funny. While the informant, too, thought it was somewhat funny, he also recognized the environmental impact that the prank may be having.

Analysis: While, on one hand, “rolling coal” is a prank, it’s also reflective of southern attitudes towards trucks and truck drivers. Truck drivers typically take great pride in their cars, especially in the South. Drivers will affix numerous accessories and upgrades to their vehicles in order to customize it to their liking, as well as show off their purchases to other truck drivers. Therefore, these sorts of modifications are normalized in the truck-driving community and, in turn, truck drivers will generally see their vehicles as superior to pedestrians and smaller cars. However, the practice of “rolling coal” takes this self-prophesied superiority to a higher degree. The point of the specific alteration is to spray an unsuspecting victim with the exhaust fumes from the truck’s engine. Most popularly, the practice is used on pedestrians, who are located lower than the driver’s seat on most souped-up trucks, further embedding the notion of superiority into truck-driving culture. While the prank may be funny for the driver and their passengers, it typically is not funny for the other person or people involved. 

One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Manny Klein: A Dirty Astronaut Joke

Nationality: Jewish-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Memphis, TN
Performance Date: 4/25/19
Primary Language: English

Context: I had heard the informant tell this joke at a party in Glendale late into the evening. We were sitting on cushioned chairs outdoors, drinking beers and chatting with roughly four other USC students. About a week later, since we’re both working on folklore collection projects, I invited the informant over to my dorm room at USC after classes. I had remembered the joke, and asked him if he remembered it. He replied quickly, stating that his Jewish grandfather had told him a plethora of jokes throughout his life, and I’d need to be more specific. “The Neil Armstrong one,” I replied, and immediately, he recognized the joke I was referencing. I began to record, and the informant began to tell the joke.

Transcription:

WD: So, tell me that joke that your Grandpa told you.

EG: Yeah, so, my grandfather is a huge Neil Armstrong fan, so he once told me this story. One time, my grandfather, he went to uh… a space convention, and there were a lot of astronauts and astrophysicists there speaking. So, he went to go see Neil Armstrong speak, since he’s such a huge fan. After hearing him speak, he went up to Neil and shook his hand and said, “Mr. Armstrong, I’m just the biggest fan of yours in the world, like, you mean so much to me and inspired me when I was younger. So, I want to ask you, where did you come up with the words ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind?’” And, Neil responds, he looks at him kind of confused, “That’s not what I said. I said, ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for Manny Klein.’” And my grandpa said, “Who the hell is Manny Klein? That makes no sense, what are you talking about?” And he said, “I’ll tell you. When I was growing up in New York City in the tenements, you know, it would get hot at night, so we had to open up our windows. Across from my bedroom in the other building, there lived this old Jewish couple, named… Patty and Manny Klein. And… every night, when the window would be open, I could hear them arguing. And every night, Manny would say to Patty, ‘Patty! Would you please give me another blowjob?’ And Patty would respond, ‘When a man walks on the moon!’”

WD: That’s pretty good, man, I like that one.

EG: I fucked up, but that’s alright. I said another at the end on accident, I meant ‘a.’ But, the punchline is intact.

Informant: The informant is a 19 year old student at the University of Southern California. He is from Memphis, Tennessee, and is Jewish-American. The informant recently heard the joke from his Jewish grandfather when he had visited Los Angeles. The informant had never heard the joke before, and was happy to tell it.

Analysis: This joke was created after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and said the famous words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It plays on the wording of the joke, altering the recognizable phrase into the punchline of the joke. For many, the United States’ moon landing was wholly impactful, and gave way to completely new ways of thinking about the universe. The phrase was heard worldwide, but it was especially impactful to the American populous. Since knowledge of the event was so widespread, this particular joke plays on the communal understanding of what happened during the moon landing. Not only that, but the joke also brings light into the seriousness of the US moon landing. Since the event was, quite literally, a race between Russian and US efforts to reach the moon, the idea that we misinterpreted the national victory is antithetical to what Americans believe.  

This joke is a different version of one created in late 1995, after some believed Neil Armstrong stated, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” during the moon landing. For that version of the joke, see David Bruce, January 3, 2000, “Wise Up! Risque Anecdotes” for The Athens News, pg. 33.

Step on a crack, break you mother’s back!

Nationality: American
Age: 7
Occupation: Student
Residence: River Forest, IL
Performance Date: 4-4-19
Primary Language: English

Text

The following information was collected from a seven-year-old Caucasian girl from South Haven, MI. The girl will hereafter be referred to as the “Informant”, and I the “Collector”.

Informant: “It’s..umm.. ‘Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.”

Collector: “What does it mean?”

Informant: “Um… On the sidewalk. If you step on the lines, your mom’s back is supposed to break.”

Collector: “Have you ever stepped on the line?”

Informant: “Yeah. But she didn’t break her back.”

Context

            The Informant informed me of this saying when we were discussing games she and her friends and siblings played on the way to school. This piece was the first game that she thought of. The informant learned the saying and subsequent game from one of her older siblings. She remembered they yelled at her once when they started playing and the Informant got scared that she had actually hurt her mother. But now she knows that it doesn’t actually hurt them right away, it’s just bad luck and could lead to her mother breaking her back.

Interpretation

            I believe, like my informant, that this little saying/game is just that: a game. But upon looking closer, I believe more meaning can be derived from the intention behind the game. The notion that the simple act of stepping on a crack on the sidewalk could potentially cause your mother to break her back makes me think mostly of implanting the idea of responsibility. I believe the game/saying brings forward the idea that children have to take responsibility for their actions. Meaning, if you step on a crack, you break your mother’s back. The idea behind this is that if you do something that indirectly causes another event, you are responsible for that outcome, whatever it may be.

 

For another version of this game, please see p. 94 of Eliot Oring’s (1986) edition of Folk Group and Folklore Genres: An Introduction in Jay Mechling’s chapter on “Children’s Folklore” ((Utah State University Press)).

 

Bronner, Simon J., et al. Folk Groups And Folklore Genres: An Introduction. Edited by Elliott Oring, University Press of Colorado, 1986.

Hail, Hail — Happy Birthday Rendition

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: 3-18-19
Primary Language: English

Text

The following piece was collected from a twenty woman from San Jose, CA. The woman will hereafter be referred to as the “Informant”, and I the “Collector”.

Informant: “My family has a very specific Happy Birthday song.”

Collector: “How so?

Informant: “We have, like, twelve songs we sing. Well, that’s an exaggeration. We have like five one we sing after the original Happy Birthday.”

Collector: “Will you sing it haha?”

Informant: “Haha..umm… okay. So it’s normal Happy Birthday, yada yada, then it’s ‘Stand up and tell us your age’, then it’s ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’, then you launch into ‘May the dear Lord bless you’. And then it’s everyone’s favorite one, ‘Hail, hail.’”

Collector: “How does that one go?”

Informant: “So there are hand motions too. Every time you sing ‘hail’, you have to throw your hands in the air. And the rest of the time, you’re swinging you arm back and forth.” (Does a motion similar to a yee-haw – bent elbow, fist near the chin, and swing it to and from.)

“Hail, hail the gang’s all here!

What the heck do we care,

What the heck do we care,

Hail, hail the gang’s all here!

What the heck do we care now!”

Context

            The Informant learned the song from her father, who supposedly claims he came up with it. The Informant, however, tells me that she believes it was a school chant the students would cheer at their school’s sports game. Nonetheless, it has been apart of every Happy Birthday song she has every sung at a family gathering. The Informant loves that her family has their own way of singing Happy Birthday. They treat it as a secret of sorts: if you know the song and the motions, you’re part of the inner circle.

Interpretation

            I was thrilled to hear this new rendition of Happy Birthday. While I was aware there were many versions of Happy Birthday, specifically those when you add “cha cha cha” or the one about how old you are, I had never heard this piece before. The added interpretation of the Informant’s belief that it acts as a method of deciphering who is really a part of the group and who is not is an added benefit. This song celebrates the one whose birthday it is while also celebrating the bond and closeness of a people who all know the same secret.

 

The Legend of Turtle Rock

Nationality: American
Age: 84
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Cascade, CO
Performance Date: 3-2-19
Primary Language: English

Text

The following piece was collected from an eighty-four year old woman who lives in Cascade, Colorado. She will hereafter be referred to as the “Informant” and I the “Collector”.

Informant: “There’s a rock on the drive up the mountain pass called Turtle Rock. Every time you go up that road, we all wait silently in the car looking for the rock. It’s a larger rock with a smaller rock behind it and slightly to the side. What happens is that as you drive by, it looks like a turtle poking his head out of his shell. As soon as you see it, you have to yell and jump around. It’s good luck if you can spot it because it’s really hard to see, especially if you’re driving quickly. All the locals know it’s there. It used to be a game to see if someone could make the steep climb up to the rock. In all my time I only ever saw one person do it.”

 

Context

            The Informant learned of this place and the tradition wrapped around it simply by living in the area and hearing from other people all about “Turtle Rock”. She believes that she has known about the rock that looks like a turtle phenomenon for as long as she can remember. She believes it is just a funny rock formation but it never fails to make her laugh.

Interpretation

            I love the stories that spin meaning from natural occurrences. Like the idea that a certain rock formation can have a meaning that everyone who lives in the area surrounding the rock knows. I believe it’s a way to identify yourself – if you are from Cascade, Colorado, then you must know about Turtle Rock. And if you don’t, then are you really a Cascade native? Furthermore, having an identity that is interwoven with the land around always seems like the most solid identity a person can have.