Tag Archives: child

Grandma Walking Stick

Nationality: Colombian, Argentinian
Age: 21
Occupation: Game Designer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4.12.2014
Primary Language: English

Item:

The informant’s great grandmother, a well-loved Argentinian woman, passed away when he was very young — at an age where he could only speak a little bit. He and his mother’s side of the family called her “Abuela Bastón”, or Grandma Walking Stick, for the distinct sound of her moving around with her trusty walking stick. After her death, there was a day where the family was sitting around, and the informant was nearly sleeping lying on his back. Suddenly, he sat up, pointed ahead, and exclaimed “Abuela Bastón! Abuela Bastón!”, claiming he heard the sound of the walking stick. It caused a bit of a reaction especially with his grandmother, who was very spiritual.

 

Context:

The grandmother (daughter of the deceased) was apparently very spiritual. She completely believed the informant was pointing at the spirit of Abuela Bastón only he could see. The rationale was that Abuela Bastón was there to check in on her great-grandson. While the informant doesn’t remember this incident, he does have vague memories of the sound of the walking stick during his youth. He doesn’t believe in ghosts or spirits but does respect the fact that it’s an important part of his family and culture, so he stays pretty objective about it so as not to offend.

 

Analysis:

It stands out the the informant, despite not really believing the spirituality of the situation, is motivated by cultural and familial respect to not refute that it was indeed a spirit. It’s also not quite a “ghost story” — more so a visitation from the spirit or soul of a recently dead family member. There wasn’t anything terribly haunting about it, and there wasn’t a visual component. Plus, it came from the mouth of a young child, although the clarity with which he suddenly woke up and spoke her name was uncharacteristic.

Shell Station Joke

Nationality: Asian-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pasadena, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Q: Where did the turtle go to get gas?

A: At the Shell station!

My inormant learned this joke from a joke book that she got when she was in elementary school.  As a child, she loved reading joke books and remembering jokes.  Because she enjoyed being humorous, she would tell her newly learned jokes to her friends to see if they thought the jokes were funny or not.
On the way to dinner one night, she and her friends passed a Shell station.  Using this perfect opportunity to say her joke, my informant recited the joke.  After a long pause of everyone in the car looking at her, she burst out laughing to end the awkward silence.  Even though this joke isn’t very funny, she tells it when there’s nothing else to talk about or when she’s bored.
My informant does not actually think the joke is funny.  She actually believes that this is the stupidest joke ever.  She only thinks it’s funny because of how lame it is.  It’s just one of those jokes that is easily remembered to tell in any situation.
If someone were to tell me this joke, I would laugh only because I think it is lame.  This joke is definitely not one of the funnier ones that people enjoy hearing.  I agree with her, this joke one of those jokes that people tell when they’re bored.  It’s also a great ice breaker when there’s an awkward silence or when people just meet each other.  This turtle joke shows how jokes are necessary in our society.  Jokes provide people with something that they can all relate to.  Jokes give people an opportunity to all agree on the humor or lack of humor of the joke.  They’re great topic starters and offer people a chance to see what kinds of people they’re with.

Norwegian Nursery Rhyme

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: ~70
Occupation: Painting Teacher
Residence: Altadena, CA
Performance Date: April 8, 2012
Primary Language: English

The informant related an activity she did with her children.

When I was a real little girl, My grandpa used to put me on his foot like this and hold my hand. [She crosses her legs at the knee and holds her hands at about knee level as though holding the hands of a toddler.] He was Norwegian and he would sing: “Ah ria ria runken. Hasta netta blunken” [phonetic transcription] [She mimes bouncing the child every other syllable.] I have know idea what it means.

I find it interesting that the informant remembers and passes on this piece of folklore despite not knowing even what it means because, even though she does not speak Norwegian, she is sentimentally attached to the rhyme.