I Fell For This Legend:
The elevator story incident first began when I was told about an incident
that "honestly happened" to a lady residing at a local rest home. The elderly
lady, unaccustomed to leaving our rural environs, signed up for a trip
to Reno. Soon tiring of the slot machines, she clutched her purse to her
chest and walked off to take one of the elevators up to her room. Just
as she got into the empty elevator, a large black man jumped in. When the
door closed, the man, out of breath, bellowed, "Hit da four." The elderly
lady, already somewhat terrified, believed the man was commanding her to
"Hit the floor." She did so. The man, at first shocked, realized the misunderstanding
and said, "No, lady. I said hit the four." He was still laughing as they
got off the elevator. Later that same night, the elderly lady is pleasantly
surprised when she is delivered a large bouquet of flowers and a fruit
basket. The enclosed card is signed by Richard Pryor.
Although the story seemed a bit pat, I believed it to be true--at least
for a little while. The
informant, a great storyteller, had sworn the story was true--it had happened
to the mother of his wife's good friend. Despite his honest face (see photo),
it was only a week later, at a small party, where I again heard the story,
but not exactly the same story. This time the elevator event happened to
a FOAF's (friend of a friend's) mother. It took place in Vegas and the
card was signed by Eddy Murphy. Something was going on. Never much for
conspiracy theory, I refused to believe America's black comedians were
united in a struggle to dispense fruit baskets to elderly white women.
When I gently questioned the truth of the story, I was unprepared for the
response. Those who had been listening argued that "It could have happened"
and that "It sounded true." The listeners wanted the story to be true.
Since this incident, I have collected other urban legends from the same
informant, a rather rich vein of folklore!
According to Brunvand in The Choking Doberman, the elevator story
has been around for over fifteen years. In an early version of the story,
a New York elevator contains three white women and a black man with his
dog. The man yells "sit." The women, thinking the command is aimed at them,
sit down. The man, Reggie Jackson, apologizes and buys them dinner. Subsequent
versions include such notables as Larry Holmes, Wilt Chamberlain, Lionel
Hampton, Lionel Richie,O.J. Simpson...
As a collector of folklore, it is worth your while to put on your thinking
cap and consider the following complex questions:
-
Why are people likely to believe such a remarkable
event occurred? What sort of evidence does it take to cause/allow you to
believe in such a remarkable event? Do you think this is likely to vary
by the individual and/or topic of the belief? Why is this so?
-
Why do many people continue to hold a belief despite contradictory evidence?
How are your beliefs changed? What is it that might make a belief harder
to change?
-
Does the particular legend support any commonly held beliefs or truisms?
In other words, after considering the common elements of the version(s),
can one isolate any popular beliefs/concerns/ fears, etc. If so, what might
one learn about cultural values by looking at such lore?
