Main Piece: KC: My brother touches the side a plane before we get on it every time we fly, and makes all of us touch it too. I thought he was just weird but I guess it’s a superstition we all have now.

Context: This practice takes place every time KC’s family boards a plane.

Background: As KC’s family is particularly logical, and generally doesn’t take place in ghost stories or superstitions, this one superstition that her brother learned is of particular interest to her and her family.

Analysis: This is interesting, as it shows that folk beliefs can be learned from outside your family as well; KC’s brother would never have learned this superstition from his family, as they don’t practice any superstitions. Through school and his friends, he learned that to be safe while travelling on a plane, you were supposed to touch the side of the plane as you were boarding. As he began to believe this, he asked his family to do this while they would travel, and now the whole family partakes on it anytime they fly. Usually, folk beliefs are seen to be passed down from generation to generation, but this is an interesting example of a younger person teaching an older generation a new superstition.