How to fight

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 34
Occupation: Police Officer
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/20/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main Piece: How to Fight

The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee about a folk tradition that has been passed down in his family. He is marked as AT, and I am marked as DM.

AT: I was maybe about (pause) prolly about six years old. I remember we were in laundry mat and I remember uh a kid was hitting me and he was a little bigger than me and I didn’t want to part of it and then my dad said “if you don’t fight back, I’m gonna uh you know I’m gonna hit you so who you prefer for him to hit you or for me to hit or for me to hit you” so I got in a fight that day. It was my first fight ever uh after that day at the house he said “hey come on Alex let’s go outside” and she said “hey you gonna learn how to fight today” and I was like “learn how to fight?” and we uh you know showed me how to punch uh showed me certain things uh it was more mental than physical at the time and he told me I remember he said “fight is like learning is like something every man needs to know its like a survival thing”. I thought it was just me and sure enough he did it to my brother we were at the park same thing a kid was hitting him bigger than him I was going to get in a fight with the kid and my dad said “no David you get in a fight or I am going to beat you up you know I’m am going to kick your butt you know you choose who do you want” and sure enough David got into a fight you know. I’ve done it with Christine the baby in a more uh filtered way you know she’s done the boxing and you know and I don’t know maybe my grandkids one day they’ll prolly I’ll prolly do it to them and you know  

Background/Context:

The participant is thirty-four years old. He is a Mexican police officer with the University of Southern California. He told me about how his father taught him how to defend himself.   

DM: Why do you like having this piece of folk tradition being tied to your family?

AT: Fighting is no stranger to the Mexican culture and I think it’s just a way of life in Mexico you learn how to fight.

DM: Why is this tradition important to you?

AT: As I grew up, I learned the psychology behind it. Nothing scares me and I use that it helped me to be very successful.

Analysis/ My Thoughts:

This tradition that has been passed down AT’s family is also a big tradition in Mexico. This means that this tradition has been passed down throughout many families within Mexico and other places that those Mexicans have moved to. When they move, they take their traditions with them. AT’s father was born in Mexico and AT has lived the United States most of his life. AT’s kids are in the United States, which means that this tradition will grow in the United States or where ever AT’s go.

Ghost Bride

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “We were staying at a lake place, and I was really little so my parents were there staying upstairs, and my dad like heard someone knocking around in the kitchen and my dad like got up, went down stairs, because he thought it was like one of us like Reid, my oldest brother had like gone downstairs and was out of bed. So, he goes downstairs and he sees a woman in like a white wedding dress sitting at the kitchen table and then gets up and like walks around the kitchen and my dad freaked out so he like… he like tried to say something to her like thought she was a real person, and then he went upstairs and like freaked out. Then the next night he heard it again but he was so freaked out he wouldn’t go downstairs, and I guess the house is haunted, like…it’s known that house is haunted.”

Context:

My friends and I were discussing the different ghost stories that we have encountered over our lives or any personal encounters with the supernatural. The participant shared this ghost story with us.

Background: 

The participant was born in and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California. She is a Law, History, and Culture major with a minor in Art History. This ghost story was experienced by the participants father than passed on to her.         

Analysis:

I find this ghost story to be very scary because it came from one of my closest friend’s father adding to the personal connection it has to me making it much more believable. In this story, we see another very common figure in ghost stories, a woman in a white dress. However, in this situation the women is tied to the house in some way. Originally the participants father lacked belief in the supernatural but after this encounter his opinions were vastly changed.

Haunted NOLA Cabin

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “So, my cousins were staying in New Orleans, which is like known for ghosts and everything and they were looking up there um… like they were in their house and they hear like a knocking outside and a lady being like ‘hey, like…this is my house, let me in’ and like the door handle kept turning so it was shaking. So, the people, people came, like my cousins and stuff came downstairs cause thought someone was trying to break in and they thought it was like a drunk woman or something like knocking on the door and everything, and they’re like ‘this isn’t your house’ and the door knob is shaking and they can hear it perfectly, like completely perfect. Then it was quiet for like… a short time and then it was gone…like it was actually moving! The door knob and the handle and they could perfectly hear someone and they open the door and there was nothing on either side like nothing was there and so they were like ‘what the fuck’ and so they look it up and the house is haunted and they’re like ‘oh my god’ and then it happened again the next night. The same exact thing, and like no one was there when they opened the door again and the neighbor says that it like happens a lot and it’s like a ghost it’s not anyone which is really freaky.”

Context: 

My friends and I were discussing the different ghost stories that we have encountered over our lives or any personal encounters with the supernatural. The participant shared this ghost story with us. 

Background:

The participant was born in and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California. She is a Law, History, and Culture major with a minor in Art History. This was told to the participant by her cousins who experienced it.         

Analysis: 

Ghost stories are much easier to believe when coming from someone you have a personal connection with. In this case the participants link to her cousin made her much more invested in the story.

You Don’t Ask

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “You don’t ask, you don’t get”

Context:

I asked the participant if she grew up hearing any common proverbs or life lessons from the people around her.

Background:

The participant was born and raised in Mill Valley, California and is currently a second semester freshman engineering student at the University of Southern California. She informed me that this proverb was extremely common in her household and told to her by her mother repeatedly.       

Analysis:

As a child, the participant was told this by her mother as a remind to use her words to get what she wanted rather than whine or pout. As time went on and the participant got older, the proverb gained more meaning and now stands as a piece of advice to work for the things you want and try your best because if you don’t fight for something and ask for it, it will never be yours.

Lake Shark

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “K well I live kind of by a lake, and there was this like myth or like belief that there was a giant shark that was like super big and was like swimming underneath the lake… and there was even like, someone made like a fake news website about it.”

Context:

Told to me while walking with the participant to class discussing various myths and legends.

Background: 

The participant is a freshman accounting major at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She grew up in Seattle, Washington where her family still currently lives. This legend was common amongst the kids in her town and common knowledge to most people. As the participant mentioned, it even gained enough popularity as to be turned into a news story.    

Analysis:

There are a surprisingly high number of different legends relating to lakes and the different monsters that lurk within them. Almost all substantial lakes have at least one legend about them, most famously the loch ness monster. Typically, you would believe legends like this to be mostly propelled by kids and their beliefs but in this situation even adults got involved with forming a news story about it.