McNuggetting

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Operational Manager
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4 - 5 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So tell me a bit about what McNuggetting is?

Informant: McNuggetting is more or less a fun way of bullying in middle school haha, i mean no one thought of it as bullying, but looking back, it totally was. So basically any time someone left their backpack behind, we’d take all their shit outta their backpack, flip it inside out, put all their shit back inside and then duct tape the whole thing. It’s pretty mean honestly but god damn it was funny haha

Interviewer: 

Haha no way, kids actually used to do that at my school to, just without the McNugget name.

Background:

My informant was born and raised in the Midwest, more specifically, Wisconsin. He went to elementary through high school there before traveling to California for college. 

Context: 

I talked to my informant over dinner while we were quarantined together during the coronavirus 2020 epidemic. We were initially talking about fond elementary school stories when McNuggeting came up and I realized it would be great to document.

Thoughts:

I think it’s interesting how a “fad” even though it’s technically bullying, was popular all across the country. My school (in California) and my informant’s school were worlds apart in terms of social views, however, kids seem to just do whatever the kids are doing around them without really thinking of the consequences.

The legend of 420

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: NA
Residence: California
Performance Date: 3 - 28 - 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So you smoke weed, right?

Informant: oh fuckin’ boy do I haha

Interviewer: and what’s your favorite part about it?

Informant: I mean, what’s not to like? Good times with good people, there’s not much else I’d ask for. 

Interviewer: And you’ve obviously heard of 420, right?

Informant: I’m pretty sure everyone on the planet knows about 420 man…

Interview: haha yeah you’re probably right, but do you know the significance behind the number 420?

Informant: I’ve heard a couple different things… most people I talk to, though, say it used to be a police code or something… like if they got a call about some people smoking it would come up on the radio as a “Code 420” or some bullshit like that but I don’t know how much i believe that haha, I feel like it’s just an excuse to get baked if I’m being totally honest. 

Background:

My Informant is a 21 year old male who has lived in California for over 20 years. He smokes weed daily, as does his circle of friends. 

Context: 

I spoke to my informant over a zoom call during the coronavirus epidemic. We initially had plans to meet in person, but we weren’t able to for obvious reasons. 

Thoughts:

I think it’s funny that there’s so much hype behind the number “420” but no one really knows where the number came from. They all seem to have some idea of dissobeying the law, though, even though weed is now legal in an increasing number of US states.

The Haunted House in Calabasas

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Environmental Scientist
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-5-2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: Tell me about the haunted house that’s in your neighborhood.

Informant: well, it’s actually not in my neighborhood but just a couple streets down. I’ve only been a couple times because you have to take a pretty long uphill hike to get past the gate without getting caught. 

Interviewer: So it’s a private neighborhood with people still living there?

Informant: Yeah it’s just your average suburban calabasas neighborhood, this one house has been abandoned for a solid fifteen years though. 

Interviewer: Well why do people think it’s haunted then?

Informant: I guess most people don’t hahaha but one time I went up there with a group of friends and we had a crazy supernatural experience and never went back. Basically we had our faces up against the window and all saw a face in the distance that wasn’t there before, and we just turned and booked it outta there. 

Interviewer: Oh so you guys actually started the rumor about this place being haunted?

Informant: I guess so! We’ve heard a couple other groups have similar things happen to them at the house though so we all think it’s legit. And I’ve seen enough horror movies in my life to know to never go back there again haha

Background:

My informant was born and raised in California, both of his parents also born Americans. He grew up in the Calabasas area and never believe in the paranormal until his experience at this “Haunted House”

Context: 

I spoke to my informant over the phone amidst the 2020 coronavirus epidemic. 

Thoughts:

While the story of this haunted house is interesting, I was more interested by the fact that my informant didn’t think the house was haunted, but just abandoned, before they went there. Even though other groups have said they’ve seen similar things, those accounts reportedly only started after my informant’s initial scare. This leads me to believe they are actually responsible for the folklore of this house, and it is interesting to see just how far those stories spread even though they don’t talk to the other groups directly. 

Puff Puff Pass

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: NA
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3-17-2020
Primary Language: English
Language: California

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: So you’re an avid weed smoker, right?

Informant: oh yeah, I’ve been smoking basically everyday since highschool. 

Interviewer: Dope, dope my guy… So I know there’s a lot of stoner-specific terms which are thrown around when people are smoking together, do you have any idea what some of these would be?

Informant: Yeah definitely, for starters, a lot of my friends call weed “kush” or “bud” amongst a bunch of other things haha… and everyone knows the whole 4:20 hype, but I’d say the biggest one by far is “puff puff pass”. 

Interviewer: and what does “Puff Puff Pass” Actually mean?

Informant: It’s basically when you’re smoking a joint or something and you’re supposed to only take two puffs before you pass it to the next person in the rotation. It’s mostly a respect thing just so everyone’s getting their fair share of bud and all that. 

Background:

My informant is from Minnesota, growing up with a mix of liberal and conservative friends. His parents were both born in America, however, have more republican views than my informant’s more liberal views. Even though he lived in Minnesota, weed is still very prevalent amongst the youth there. He moved to California for college and his smoking habits have stayed more or less the same. 

Thoughts:

I think it’s interesting how stoner culture is generally looked at in a negative light, with people saying they’re lazy or disrespectful, while in reality, they have countless sayings and proverbs enforcing moral “rules” on how to be the best smoke buddy. I also found it interesting that stoner culture’s around the world use the phrase “puff puff pass” even though most of the other slang that people use tends to  vary a lot between places and age groups. 

Car “Breeds” are Just as Important as Animal Breeds

Nationality: United States
Age: 24
Occupation: Veterinary Technician
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/05/2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main story: 

With the current 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, veterinary technicians (hereby referred to as vet techs) are still slated to go to work as animal care is finally looked at as essential by most all of the U.S. However, nobody outside of the people who work in the clinics are allowed into the clinic. Vet techs are doing patient intakes over the phone and then asking the owner of the patient what car they are in so when they exit the clinic to the parking lot to get the animal to be taken inside and treated they know which car to go to. Because of this, vet techs are also having to learn what different car makes and models actually look like on top of everything else. So this meme is relatable across all veterinary clinics as this is the standardized procedure. But the other joke in the meme is the reference to car models as “breeds”, obviously dogs and cats and horses have breeds within their species that vet techs all know. And now they are having to memorize a whole other form of breed. 

Background: 

The informant who made the meme is a veterinary technician. They are almost attacked by animals every day they go to work. However, no matter how crazy it gets with the animals, they maintain they could not imagine any other job. 

Context: 

The informant is a coworker of mine, I am also a vet tech. They sent the meme in our clinic’s group chat. 

My thoughts: 

I found this very funny and highly relatable. As a vet tech myself, I find myself on the phone with clients and asking them what car they are in and only half of the time actually knowing what their car looks like. The other half of the time I am googling on the computer on my way out their car make and memorizing it quickly so I do not look completely out of touch and incompetent when I walk outside looking for the owner’s car.