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Softball Injury (Rick Gangopadhyay)

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Title: Softball Injury

General Information about Item:

  • Legend, workplace folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #7
  • Date Collected: February 20, 2018.

Informant Data:

  • FO+M Custodian and has been working for college for three years. Has been part of the custodial department the entirety of his time at Dartmouth.  Originally from Connecticut and moved to the Upper Valley area.

Contextual Data:

  • Some of the members of the custodial department sometimes meet to play softball in their free time. The last time this occurred was three years ago as far as the informant is aware.  This is due to problems that ensued during the game that was played on this occasion.  The story describes the informant’s experience at the softball game and an accident that occurred.

Item:

    • The custodian is at the casually organized softball game among other custodians and his team is up at bat. Another custodian winds up to hit the ball and hits it as hard as he can.  The ball flies directly into the ribcage of another custodial worker on the other team and he has to go to the hospital.  As it turned out, the victim was okay but suffered a cracked rib cage.

     

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “I can’t say I’m all that good at softball or other ball sports… When Jim hit that ball though I almost threw up myself, he hit it into the man- I didn’t know his name – and it looked pretty darn painful! I’ve been telling this to some of the new guys and they think it’s a shame we stopped doing it.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I used to play in casual soccer games when I was a kid and whenever someone got hurt, everyone would often stop playing altogether. It seems like this doesn’t stop as we get older.

Collector’s Name: Rick Gangopadhyay

Tags/Keywords:

  • Legend
  • FO+M
  • Narrative Folklore

Water Balloon Legend (Rick Gangopadhyay)

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Title: Water Balloon Legend

General Information about Item:

  • Legend, workplace folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #6
  • Date Collected: February 23, 2018

Informant Data:

  • Has been working for the custodial sector of FO+M for over five years. Is originally from Manchester, New Hampshire but more recently moved to the Upper Valley.

Contextual Data:

  • A story that has been passed down to her from her boss who heard it from her boss. The story takes place in 2007 and the story has been told by her boss that the story is true.  The story describes the experience one custodian had one afternoon when he walked up to the third floor of Topliff.

Item:

    • This custodian walks into his assigned dormitory, which he was assigned that day. Walking up to the third floor, he hears loud yelling and the sound of splashing water.  Entering the floor, he finds that there is a water balloon fight going on in the third-floor hallway with the walls soaked as well as the floors.  Students escape through the fire escape and the custodian cannot catch a glimpse of them of whether they live on the floor.  No one was ever found accountable for the incident.

     

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “I can’t complain these days about students, they’ve been great to me.  This story I told you though makes me wonder what got into those kids.  To be honest though, I probably would have joined in if I were one of the students.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I’ve seen custodians deal with a lot of cases of disregard for the dorms we live in.  It’s amazing to me how much work they put in.  I myself have never heard of the water balloon story but it does not surprise me at all.

Collector’s Name: Rick Gangopadhyay

Tags/Keywords:

  • Legend
  • FO+M
  • Narrative Folklore

Hinman Window Superstition (Rick Gangopadhyay)

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Title: Hinman Window Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Superstition, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #5
  • Date Collected: February 23, 2018

Informant Data:

  • Began to work for Hinman second term of freshman year on campus. Has been involved in several divisions of the FO+M but was drawn to FO+M due to work hours and flexibility.  Originates from Kentucky.

Contextual Data:

  • As new members come to work for FO+M, veterans among the group will pass down pieces of advice. This piece of advice stems from a superstition that has been passed down regarding closing time rituals for the Hinman window.  The origin of the superstition is unknown as well as when it was conceived.  If the protocol is not followed, then the negative result has historically inevitably occurred.

Item:

  • If an individual at the Hinman window does not close the window promptly and swiftly at the end of the hours for Hinman, then someone will show up at the end of the day and ask for service. If the worker closes the window swiftly, then no one will show up asking for service.  As such, this Hinman worker was instructed to close the window with conviction at the end of each day.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “It’s really true man, I’ve tested it.  Every time I keep the window even slightly open some new person shows up.  I don’t know… I don’t know to be honest.  Makes me start to be a little more superstitious these days.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I used to work for a small business in Massachusetts that had a similar policy of locking the door exactly at closing hour, which was 8:30PM.

Collector’s Name: Rick Gangopadhyay

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • FO+M