“You can’t put your purse on the floor or else you’ll run out of money. My mom used to always tell me that.”

I have never heard of this superstition before, but this one seems to make sense. Parents probably told this so that children will be careful of where they put their belongings. These superstitions coming from Janneth were so interesting and new for me that I wanted to keep talking to her about the things she’s heard while she was growing up in her own culture.

Janneth Galeno is my co-worker. She works in an office. She was born in Mexico but moved to the United States and she has been living here ever since. She is married and has one daughter. She told me these traditions and stories during break at work.

This specific folk belief is something Janneth had simply heard from her mother. She does not necessarily believe in it, but as a joke, while she was telling me this superstition, Janneth mentioned that this must be why she’s not rich; because she neglects this and constantly puts her purse on the floor without hanging it on a chair or elsewhere.