Tag Archives: clock

11:11

Nationality: German
Age: 23
Occupation: Front Desk Worker/ Grad Student
Residence: The Valley
Performance Date: 4/25/2012
Primary Language: English

Story:

“My aunt was injured in a skiing accident and she’s parapaligic and now my cousin believes in 11:11 and now he has an alarm that goes off.  And every 11:11 he makes a wish for her to walk again.  I believe it too and I also make a wish for her.”

The 11:11 wish is relatively new.  The earliest it could have started is the beginning of digital clocks and clocks that actually showed 11:11.  Plus, it is only possible to have two if the time is not military.  It is the only numbers on the clock that is the same backwards, forwards and upside down.  Somehow, this has given the number special powers and has people believing that it is a sign or signals spirit presence.  For this family though, it is a way to influence something they feel helpless in front of.  When medicine doesn’t work, it is much easier to turn to some kind of magic to help.

A stopped clock is right twice a day, but its still broken

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ridgecrest, California
Performance Date: 4/19/12
Primary Language: English
Language: German

“A stopped clock is right twice a day, but its still broken”

My informant modified the classic fold saying “A stopped clock is still right twice a day” and modified it during a group coding session. One of the members of the group’s portion of code was working about 75% of the time, but could not reproduce the errors on his computer, so he kept claiming the problem was fixed and refused to work on it. After  my informant said the above proverb, he finally gave in and worked on fixing his code. Its interesting to note that by adding the second part of the proverb, my informant completely changed the meaning of the saying. I interpret the original saying as meaning that “even if something is broken, it still has some use”, however by adding the second part of the proverb, the meaning becomes, “If something is broken, it may still has some use, but its still broken”. These sayings can also be applied to people and the meanings remain relatively the same. “Even a stupid person is right sometimes” versus “A stupid person can be right sometimes, but their still stupid.”

El Reloj or The Clock

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 62
Occupation: House Cleaner
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/26/2012
Primary Language: Spanish

“Tal parece que me vela y me dice el minutero, pongase aprisa el sombrero y salga para la escuela. El tiempo corre veloz, mas un amigo cercano. Por la manana temprano me despierta con su voz. Casi nunca se retrasa y por eso lo bendigo. Sepase usted que es mi amigo, el reloj de mi casa.”

English:

It seems that it watches me and the minute hand tells me, quickly! Put your hat and go to school. The time runs fast, yet it’s a close friend. Early in the morning it wakes me up with its voice. It hardly ever falls back and that’s why I bless it. I will have you know that its my friend, the clock of my house.

This is a cuban refran, or saying, which message is basically thankfulness for the clock in their home. It’s a sort of homage to the clock, which never falls behind and helps them to stay punctual. Time in cuban culture would likely be a precious comodity. My informant, who was a field worker in cuba when she was young, tells me that her family had schedules that they adhered to on most days for work. As part of a group that relied on the changing of the seasons and weather for agricultural, and thus monetary, success, it makes sense that time would be viewed as something worth having a saying about.