Friday, June 14, 2024

Urban Legends

Cameron has been taking a folklore class this summer that will come to a close this weekend. It may seem like a strange class to take for some, but it fulfills a general requirement for Kelley, and Cameron has really enjoyed it.  I have had fun listening to all that he has learned and I know that we both have found it more fascinating that the economics course that he finished several weeks ago.

The one bad part about the class is that he learned about urban legends and that most of them are false.  As a big believer in urban legends, I have taken the brunt of his research.  He has debunked my belief in the Florida Skunk Ape, although I am still planning on taking him to the research center when we visit the Florida Everglades in a few weeks.  Cameron also fact checked my story about Michael Stipe and the reason that the band REM broke up.  Nothing I told him was correct and I felt pretty stupid sharing the story with him in the first place as it definitely wasn't flattering to the lead singer.  

The worst one for me, however, was when he looked up the meaning of Phil Collins' song "In the Air Tonight."  I had told him this elaborate story from the 1980s about Phil Collins' friend drowning and another boater not helping save him.  According to the story, Phil Collins invited the man to a concert, gave him front row seats and sang the song to him just to humiliate him.  Cameron figured out in less that a minute that the story was just an urban legend and the song was really about divorce.  He has never let me forget it.  Thankfully, I have finally realized that I will never tell Cameron a story form my childhood that I hadn't research first.  That will definitely save me from complete humiliation later.  Either way, it has been fun sharing folklore with him this summer.  

No comments:

Post a Comment