Folk Group

As I read Chapter 3 I noticed that the term “folk-group” was a flexible one. It was surprising to me that so many of the activities and groups in which I participate could all be categorized as folk-groups, despite being so different from one another. My family is the most complicated folk-group I belong to because the different branches of it have different regional affiliation, religious customs and ethnic traditions, which according to Chapter 3 are all different folk-group types, but in this case they exist within one larger folk-group. That being said, the Rowing team is the most obvious example, from my life, of what a folk-group is and does.

There is a culture that is part of being on the rowing team that is distinct from other groups. There are certain words, phrases, and styles of dress that are particular to being a rower. Those who don’t row don’t spend the same amount of time in spandex. Those who don’t row won’t know what it means to “hang your catch” or the difference between “scull” and “sweep”. There are rhythms to the way things go at the boathouse. These patterns become general rules of conduct. For example: if you’re a port you get the oar, if you’re a starboard you take it back and if there is a water-bottle on an Erg, that Erg is taken. (If you don’t row, chances are you don’t even know what an Erg is.) If you’re an under-classmen on the team the only way to learn these subtle social-quirks is to observe carefully or have an upper-classmen explain them. This happens one-on-one and informally. Although practice itself is group instruction, coaches individually teach each rower the stroke. Real rowers share a sense of pride in the blisters and calluses that result from the hard work, in being able to cope with the ridiculously early practice-times, and have an all-or-nothing-regardless-of-conditions approach to race-day. I could write pages and pages trying to describe all the different customs, processes, and traditions that are part of the practices surrounding a regatta (race-day) and are so intrinsic to the regatta itself, but in the end I think it is something that needs to be experienced to be understood.