Carol is a Floridian who left the state to study film production at Boston University. She has since started a family in LA and is as much an LA native as a Floridian at heart. She has no remnants of her floridian accent, and knows the entire secret menu at In N Out.

Performance: “So…growing up in this weird place I did, southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico, we had our own weird set of things. Nobody was really FROM there, just like there’s not that many people that you meet, who are older, who are FROM L.A., so there was a big mish mash of things. One thing that was distinctly floridian however was the belief in the curative powers of the Gulf. If you had a cold, swim in the Gulf. If you had a rash, swim in the Gulf. If you had a sunburn, swim in the Gulf. It was supposed to be able to cure a lot of things, and I felt like it really did. Maybe it was the saline or something, but I think it actually works.”

Analysis: Folklore tied to the water is abundant in the Florida keys.  I feel that the curative powers of bodies of water is a common belief spanning multiple cultures and countries. It is interesting that Carol believes in the curative powers of the Gulf, and reaches for a scientific justification. Perhaps the Gulf has curative powers thanks to the placebo effect, or perhaps something about the cleansing salt water actually does help skin conditions and stuffy noses.