Trip Raid (day)

Title: Trip Raid (day)

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Practical Joke / Trick
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was hiking (level 3).

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • The trick is played on the trippees by outside actors (Dartmouth students not on the trip)
    • The whole group must be present
    • This raid takes place during the daytime while the trip is taking a break from hiking
  • Cultural Context
    • Focus on putting the trippees out of their comfort zone — make them nervous about the presence of two outside figures
    • The result is that all the trippees are embarrassed that they fell for the joke in the first place. This collective embarrassment gives the trippees something to bond over going forward

Item:

  • Trip raid (daytime): During one day of hiking, the trip is on a break when they notice two figures hiking off-trail. It seems strange to the trippees and trip leaders that anyone is hiking off trail, but then the two figures abruptly change direction and begin directly approaching the trip. It is two cloaked and bearded men. When they reach the trip, the trippees and trip leaders realize that it is two Dartmouth students dressed up as creepy figures. They then laugh together about the joke.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“We were raided by one of our trip leaders’ boyfriends, and she had no idea they were coming. We were sitting down having lunch and we saw these two figures hiking through this marsh behind these trees, and we were like ‘oh that’s pretty weird that they are not hiking on the really well laid out path, but okay.’ And then we were just sitting there watching them, watching them, watching them, and suddenly they just vere toward us and it was terrifying. It was these two cloaked, bearded figures, but it was just two guys that our trip leader knew dressed up as Lord of the Rings characters. They then proceeded to sing to us. It was really weird, but really fun.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • During this raid, neither the trippees nor the trip leaders knew that this would be happening.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Practical Joke, Raid, Daytime, Wilderness, Creepy figures

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