Tag Archives: luck

Superstition – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: African-American
Occupation: Student
Residence: Saint Louis, MO
Performance Date: April 1, 2007
Primary Language: English

Don’t shave on Game-day. (with reference to USC football)

Notes:

The subject told me that its bad luck to shave (a guy’s face) on game day, saying that the team you were rooting for would lose. This is a huge superstition on USC campus, due to the obsession with USC’s football team. The subject is a member of the Trojan Marching Band and stated that this is a widely held belief for the band as well as most students on campus. When he told me this superstition a few other guys were around and he pointed at one and said you shaved when he played Oregon State (USC lost the football game this past season (06-07) to an unranked Oregon State). The guy quickly denied it, as if he wanted to deflect the blame of losing the game. It was obvious that they both believed and followed this tradition. The subject however was not sure how it started or why it only referred to shaving but swears it works.

I had never of this superstition before coming to USC, but that could be because all of the sports at my high school were not amazing. I think that this ritual definitely has a lot to do with the university and its tie to athletics, in particular to football. I do not think that the act of shaving itself has a lot to do with the custom, other than the fact that it is an everyday occurrence for men, and skipping it implies that they are doing something special. I think that if there were other things men did as often as shave, other than bathing, eating and sleeping, they would be equal contenders as to this ritual. I did find it interesting that both boys were so into the custom, and that the accused one was so quick to deny the comment. It really showed how fervently they followed the superstition.

Superstition – American

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

If you spill salt, you must take some and throw it behind you so you won’t be unlucky.

My informant first heard about this superstition while he was watching a movie.  He was watching the movie “Just My Luck” starring Lindsay Lohan.  In the movie, Lindsay Lohan is the luckiest girl in the world.  However, she meets a really unlucky guy and through a kiss their luck switches.  Lindsay Lohan becomes really unlucky and while she is in a restaurant she spills salt.  To not get bad luck, she takes some of the salt and throws it over her shoulders.

Salt is associated with a lot of symbolism and superstition.  In ancient societies, salt was very expensive to buy and was a very precious product.  Salt is used as a preservative and in someway began to symbolize life.  Salt also became a sign of hospitality, trust and friendship because of how expensive it was.  Therefore to spill salt was a waste and many people believed that bad luck came to the person who spilled it.  Some people also believed that if salt was spilt in a particular person’s direction then bad luck would come to that person.  Some people throw salt over their shoulders.  However, salt must be tossed over their left shoulder and into the face of the Devil.  Therefore, spilt salt should never be cleaned up.  Some people also believed that enough tears must be cried to dissolve the spilt salt.  This would reverse the bad luck that was coming to the person.  Another superstition for salt is that salt is thrown on the threshold of a new house for good luck.

Ritual – University of Southern California

Nationality: English, German
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Berkley, CA
Performance Date: April 25, 2008
Primary Language: English

Kick the Flagpoles

Before home football games at the University of Southern California, many people either park, party, or eat somewhere on campus.  As the game nears kickoff, the thousands of dedicated fans stream south toward the Coliseum.  On the way they pass a series of towering flag poles shows on the left which over look an entrance to the south side of campus from Exposition Boulevard.  Every fan makes it a point to kick one of the bases of the flagpoles as he passes for good luck.  Since it is supposed to bring good luck on the Trojans, fans of opposing teams will almost never kick the flagpoles.  With literally thousands of fans kicking the noisy bases, it creates a racket which can be heard for blocks.

This tradition is specific to USC; as far as I know, no other university has such a tradition.  My friend Grant reminded me of this tradition when were we discussing the many traditions of USC.  A freshman here, originally from Berkeley, California, he had no idea as the why this kicking started.  Although I have lived about half an hour from USC all my life, I had no idea either.  We both learned this ritual when we went to our first home football game here.  I remember walking past the imposing poles when a large man, probably a graduate student or upperclassman, said “Hey, you gotta kick the flag pole, man.” “Why?” I asked.  “I don’t know dude, its good luck.”  We kicked the loose base of the flag pole, everybody smiled, and then continued on our trek to the Coliseum.  We probably discussed the tradition for a while, but like the big fan who had told us about it, we could not conclude much else about the ritual other than that it was for good luck, presumably for the Trojans.

After we thought about the tradition a second time for this collection, we hypothesized that the tradition may have started unintentionally.  The bases of the flagpoles are extremely noisy when kicked.  As they are placed on the edge of campus, they can be viewed as the last markers of “Trojan territory.”  As such, perhaps a person accidentally kicked one of the bases on his way out.  Seeing the drunken nature of many tailgate parties, this sort of stumbling is not at all unlikely.  So, perhaps one from the other legions of fans marching over to the Coliseum heard the noise initiated by the drunken stumbler.  Interpreting it as a type of rallying cry, one last bang before leaving the comfort of Troy and entering into the battlefield of the Coliseum, these fans picked up on it and began kicking the bases of the other flagpoles too.  Delighted by the loud, resounding clamor they were making, they soon decided to do it the next game, as well.  It is possible that in this way the tradition started.  A quick internet search revealed that nobody really knew how the tradition started; several sites speculated something along the lines of the idea outlined by the above paragraph.

Anyhow, the tradition allows dedicated Trojan fans to participate in a group activity.  As freshmen learning the tradition, we felt that we were in a way being initiated into the Trojan family.  Like all those proud Trojans before us, we too now knew that we were supposed to kick the flagpoles on the way to the Coliseum before a home game.  Although we do not know the true origins, it does not matter, as it has developed into a true Trojan tradition – and so we proudly kick away as we walk to the Coliseum, contributing to the joyous clamor which embodies the spirit of Troy.

Ritual – University of Southern California

Nationality: Half-Chinese and Half-Estonian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Loch Arbour, NJ
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Arvo Lee, as one of the many thousands of USC students and fans, kicks the flagpole on the walk on the way to the Coliseum. One is supposed to kick the flagpole every single time one is walking to the Coliseum to watch a football game. Thus, it is a ritual that has been going on for many years. Kicking the flagpole is supposed to bring us luck; it is supposed to ensure a Trojan victory. Arvo does it because he says it is all in the name of good spirit. He learned it by watching other people- other USC students and fans who have gone to football games at the Coliseum before, and walk by the flagpole every time- do it. He realized that people did it for luck, so he mimicked them to keep the ritual/tradition going.

As a USC student, I also kick the flagpole on the way to the game. I agree with Arvo that the point of kicking the flagpole is for good luck. It is supposed to help us win the football game of the day. Everyone does it in the name of good fun; I do not think anyone thinks kicking the flagpole is a true factor in whether or not we win the game. People just do it unconsciously. They only do it because other students and fans do it. If they had not seen other people do it, it would have never occurred to them to kick the flagpole for luck.

This ritual says that we, as a society, learn by mimicking. We begin kicking the flagpole, and someone says it is for good luck, and soon thereafter we have a whole mass of students and fans that follow suit. At first, I did not even know why I was kicking the flagpole, but since everyone else was doing it, I did it too. This ritual also says that we, as a society, are creatures of habit. Now I do not even have to try to remember to kick the flagpole, I have done it so much now I just do it automatically. Some people might think after many times kicking the flagpole that it is pointless, but they will probably keep doing it out of habit and tradition.

Superstition – Fullerton, California

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Nationality: Korean
Age: 26
Occupation: Business Student
Residence: Long Beach, California
Performance Date: February 16, 2009
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

There is a statue on the campus of California State University Fullerton. There was a gigantic earthquake some years ago and the damage was extensive. Among the things damaged in the earthquake was the statue. It was broken during an earthquake and they decided to leave it broken instead of repairing it. The belief is that there is good luck in the butt cheek of the statue. The good luck only resides in the left butt cheek. The right butt cheek contains no luck whatsoever. The left butt-cheek must be rubbed. It has to be the left butt-cheek or it will not work.  If a person were to rub the magical left butt cheek of the broken statue that person will perform well on their tests. This ritual must be performed prior to the test or I will not work.

My informant forgets the name of the statue at the moment. Not only does he not remember the name of the statue but he does not even know what the statue is supposed to be of. He tells me that he heard about this belief from a friend of his who currently attends school at Cal State Fullerton. He also says that the butt-cheek itself is considerably worn down from constant good luck rubbing. I was not able to see the statue in person but was considerably interested in seeing just how worn down the butt cheek was.

The statue was most likely left unrepaired because the students began to idolize the butt cheek of the broken statue more and more. I asked Andrew why he felt that the statue was so important to the students and what he believed it meant. He says that he believes that the earthquake was so powerful and traumatic to the students that the statue became a sort of symbol of the positive that came from the earthquake. He added that prior to the earthquake no one rubbed the statue’s left butt cheek at all, much less expecting good luck on test as a result.

I think the connection to the earthquake was an important one. Without the earthquake damage the statue was completely normal and had no special properties. After the earthquake its importance grew and it gained symbolic value. Whether or not anyone actually performed better on tests as a result of rubbing the left butt cheek remains a mystery.