Crossing the Street Expression

Age: 19

Text:
“The story I have to tell is an expression that my grandma says. She’s from Guatemala and came to the U.S. in the 80s. The town my grandma is from is really small. The expression that she says is, in Spanish, ‘Look both ways when you cross the street because you don’t know if it’s your dad driving. And even if it is, you don’t know if he’s drunk or not.’ People drink a lot in that little town, and it’s dark.”

Context:
A boy from Pamona, CA sharing a proverb that his grandma and other people from her town use when crossing the street. She is from a small town in Guatemala that has a big drinking culture.

Analysis:
This saying is likely a proverb passed down through generations to educate their children on safety when crossing the road, especially given that the town has such a large drinking culture. This also suggests that there may have been drunk-driving accidents in this town and that it is common for people to drive under the influence. Instead of changing the drinking culture of their community, they turn to educate their children on the risks of drunk driving. This has turned into a folk metaphor, passed down through generations.

Upstate New York Ghost Story

Age: 19

Text:
“Back in like 2010 I’d say, because I just turned four and moved into a new house. So my house is around 200 years old. It’s an old farmhouse. It was built in 1820, so however old it was at that point. I just moved into this house, and I was four, so I was asleep. My mom, apparently the first few nights we moved there, she smelled smoke. It’s important to know my parents are very anti-smokers. They’re very against smoking, so it clearly wasn’t them, but my mom would hear smoking and she’d smell cigarette smoke every night around the same hour. She would see a haze too in the kitchen, and the smell was cigarette smoke. It happened for three nights straight, and it was all at the same hour, same time. My dad would be at work and then it was just me and my brother, and we’d be asleep. She’d smell it every time at the same hour, so she thinks it’s a ghost that’s living in our house, which you know, could make sense based on how old it is. She went up to talk to the ghost one night around that hour, and she was just like, ‘Hey, listen, you’re free to stay here and welcome of course, but my husband and son have asthma and they can’t deal with the cigarette smoke. Can you just smoke outside on the porch?’ After that, she’s never smelt it again.”

Context:
A girl from upstate New York who heard a ghost story from her mom about when she moved into her house when she was around four years old. She has not experienced other paranormal activity since this experience.

Analysis:
While it is a ghost story, this story serves as excellent framework for efficient communication. Her mom could have called a priest or exorcist, like others do, and forced the spirit away from her home, but instead, she took a friendlier approach and simply communicated with the ghost. By asking nicely and explaining the reasoning behind her request, she got her wishes and was never bothered by the indoor-smoking ghost again. I think we can all take a page out of her mom’s book and apply her extraordinary communication and confrontation skills to our own lives. As for whether the story is true or not, only her mom knows. It’s possible it could have been fabricated to warn her kids against smoking.

Horse Riddle

Age: 22

Text:
“A man rode out of town on Sunday. He stayed the whole night at a hotel and rode back to town the next day on Sunday. How is this possible? The horse’s name is Sunday.”

Context:
A girl from LA who learned this riddle from her grandma.

Analysis:
Interestingly enough, I have heard this riddle before, but the horse’s name was Friday instead of Sunday. This serves as an example of multiplicity and variation when sharing and spreading folk speech like riddles.

Scary Camp Story

Age: 22

Text:
“There once was an old man who lived in an old house, and he lived around no one else except for one other old neighbor. It was just an old man who lived there by himself, and this man became infatuated with the life of this old man who lived next to him. Infatuated. He was so intrigued by his life as a single old man that he couldn’t resist. So every night for a week, he went into the old man’s bedroom, snuck into his house, broke in. The old man had no idea, he couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear. He had bad senses, he’s an old man. He broke into his house and would just watch him sleep and try and figure out what he was thinking about. On the 8th night, he goes back to the old man’s house like usual, but he swears he sees the old man’s eyes open. So, instinctually, he grabs the pocket knife out of his pocket and stabs the old man in the heart. He’s panicking. He just killed a man and doesn’t know what he did. He was scared. So, he buries the old man under the floorboards in the old house. Eventually, the police came and asked him to go to the crime scene, as he’s the only one that lives around this old man. He works through the investigation, and nothing happens. He goes to sleep that night, but he’s awoken by a slow thumping. Boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom. The sound of the old man’s heart beating from under the floorboards. Boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom. Finally, he goes back. He looks under the floorboards. The old man’s still dead, but he can hear the boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom of his heart. This sound follows him for the rest of his life, and eventually, he tells the police that he killed the old man, and the police said, ‘We don’t know anything about this old man.’ He dreamed it all.”

Context:
A boy who grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and learned this ghost story when he was camping as an Eagle Scout.

Analysis:
This ghost story is interesting for a few reasons. I have often found that ghost stories that end with “It was a dream all along” are ones that are made up completely and didn’t know how to end it or, similarly, someone forgot the ending and changed it. I would be interested to see other versions of this tale and if they have a different ending or not. It’s also interesting that he learned it as a Boy Scout, potentially serving as a cautionary tale for invading privacy and lying.

Camp Birthday Song

Age: 21

Text:
“Happy, happy birthday. What? Birthday. What? Happy, happy birthday. What? Birthday. What? Everybody knows that it’s your day, so we’re gonna celebrate in the best way. All your friends, no families here. This only happens once a year. Happy, happy birthday? What? Birthday. What?”

Context:
A girl from NYC who learned this song at sleep-away camp, where she spent her summers growing up.

Analysis:
This song is passed down each year from camper to camper during birthday celebrations. It is sung in unison and also features a matching clap “dance” to create the rhythm. This rendition of the Happy Birthday song was made to cater to campers who may or may not be homesick and need to be reminded that they area surrounded by all their friends and having the best time. The song is interactive and dynamic, making the birthday celebration all the more exciting.