Tag Archives: good luck

Lucky Advice – USA

Nationality: Jewish-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Clermont, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2008
Primary Language: English

“When you see a penny on the ground, if its head is up, then its lucky and you better keep it. If its tail is showing, either walk on by, or throw it away, but don’t you keep it with you for too long.”

Jordan said he first heard this from his substitute grandmother who is a 91 year old retired African American who grew up in tupelo Mississippi and now living in Fullerton California. He said that Letha helped take care of him ever since he was a little kid. He said that she carried him home from the hospital and has given her a lot of advice in his life.

However, he continues, the one thing he always remembers from her, is to hold on to the heads up penny. Jordan did not know why this was true, but he says to this day he even flips pennies that are lying around his room or even on the street to heads up so that other people can have good luck as well.

Analysis.

Whether a heads up coin actually brings luck or not, I think that Jordan belief is more of a psychological effect more than anything else. I think people seem to believe in the idea that older is wiser. Like any other child, Jordan only easily accepted this because he was young and believed in his replacement grandmother’s ideas. What happened next is psychological. I think that every time he came across a heads up coin and then something good happen to him, Jordan associated it with the coin and vice versa.

This is only because he was brought up in a culture that believes in that a heads up coin brings luck. Another person could easily and rightly perceive a heads up coin as simply a heads up coin and nothing else to it. Such is the strength of traditions. Tradition builds identity. By this I mean people with similar traditions identify and easily associate with each other. It is simply because they perceive similar things similarly. That is why Jordan has to remember his replacement grandmother every time he comes across a coin. There is that connection between two people that can be created simply sharing the same cultural beliefs.

Folk Superstition

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fairfield, NJ
Performance Date: March 14, 2008
Primary Language: English

Folk Superstition

“During hockey playoffs, a lot of guys grow beards for good luck until the end of the season so that their favorite time will win.”

My manager at the Original Pancake House is a huge sports fan, especially when it comes to hockey.  He absolutely loves the Rangers and goes to as many games as possible every season.  He is a very intense fan, and he and his friends do a lot of different things to try to bring their team good luck.

He said that this superstition is really common, especially with hockey fans.  If a favorite team makes it to the playoffs (and some even do this during the whole season, but it is generally based on the playoffs), a lot of the fans will let their facial hair grow, specifically their beards.  They tend to believe that as long as they keep their hair growing, their team won’t lose.  Of course this isn’t necessarily true, but it gives them something to hope for.  One of the reasons this superstition is probably to common is that it encourages fans to be more involved.  By growing their beards out and doing something that seems to contribute to the team’s success, the fans feel more involved.

The specificity of growing a beard is most likely due to men’s desire to come across as being very masculine.  Since men already tend to love sports because it associates them with masculine qualities, this trend seems to emphasize that.  In growing a beard, which is clearly a trait that is unique to men, they are asserting their masculinity and trying to make a statement that they have the male power to control, or contribute, to a sports team’s success during the playoffs.

Furthermore, growing a beard can be symbolic of the teams success (or lack thereof) because of the fact that bears grow and can be cut off.  As the beard is growing, so is the team as they win games during the playoffs.  However, if the team loses, the fans can easily shave off their beards in order not to be reminded of the downfall.  Growing a beard provides an easy and convenient way of showing support for a team without making any huge commitments, and it still makes a bold visual statement.  When people who are aware of this tradition see a man with a beard during the playoffs, it can serve as a sort of advertisement for the team and for the sport in general.  In many senses, this superstition is a convenient and practical way for men to show their support and assert their masculinity during game season.

Superstition – United States

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2, 2008
Primary Language: English

Another piece of Navy folklore that Vince shared with me is one about dolphins and their significance to seamen.  Dolphins are considered a good omen to submariners.  If and when dolphins encounter a submarine, they are a telltale sign that everything will be okay and that the seas are safe to wander.

Vince sees dolphins as mystical animals, who connote good vibes and good thing to come.  I agree in that dolphins are, indeed, mystical animals.  In a sense, they are reminiscent of fairytale and marchen, in the fact that they are indeed so mystical.

Custom – University of Southern California

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: South San Francisco, CA
Performance Date: April 16, 2008
Primary Language: English

It is well known that a school such as ours here at the University of Southern California is chock full of different kinds of legends, customs, and folklore.  My friend Berna shared her favorite piece of USC folklore with me.  With football season being such a major period of time in the school year for us Trojans, one of USC’s very own football customs stands out most in her mind: kicking the flagpoles on Exposition Blvd. on the way back to campus, returning from a glorious or defeated game of football.

As the fanfare of The Spirit of Troy dies down and the Coliseum spills out its throngs of people after every Trojan football game, the crowd on its way back to the University Park campus typically takes one route: across Exposition Blvd.  The flagpoles in front of George Tirebiter, the trusty and loyal dog companion of the early Trojan football team, stand as a sort of gateway back to USC from the Coliseum.  As each person passes through, Trojans or non-Trojans alike, must kick the base of the flagpoles a number of times.  Berna recalls hearing the sound of clanking feet against the metal of the pole every time she approaches that entrance on Expo.  Such a simple custom is said to bring luck and victory to the football team for their next and future football games.  I, being a superstitious person, agree with this folklore and, although I was a Spring admit this year, I came out to each and every football game, with my own Student Season pass, and gladly partook in the custom of kicking the flagpole every single time I passed through that entrance into campus.  I honestly felt as though each time I had not kicked the poles, the team truly could have performed better in their following game.