Urban Legend of Cry Baby Bridge

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Cry Baby Bridge

When talking to students around campus about urban legends they knew, many of them were quick to recite a story that they once enjoyed hearing. Most people all knew at least a couple stories. Almost everyone knew some variation of the most popular urban legends. When talking in the dorm with a twenty year old female student, I learned that she knew several stories from her hometown. I found most interesting the story involving a bridge named Cry Baby Bridge. The story was specific to her home town. She had heard it in a similar situation as me, in the dorm atmosphere from one of her friends from her hometown. This is the story she told me, as close to verbatim as possible:

One day back home several years ago a teenage girl got pregnant. She was able to keep her pregnancy secret from her dad but when she gave birth her father was unhappy and ashamed of what she did. Her father kicked her out of the house, and she was left with no where to go. She was really sad and had no idea what to do. She drove to a single-lane bridge by her house and got out of the car with her new born baby. With the crying baby in her hands, she jumped off of the bridge, instantly killing both of them. Ever since then the bridge is now called Cry Baby Bridge, and if you go at midnight, turn off your lights and get out you can hear the baby crying, and her car will come from behind you and run you off of the road.

While telling the story she talked slowly and seriously. It seemed as if she believed in the story, but when asked after, she said she just thought of it as a good story from back home.

After hearing the story, I found variations online. One variation had the boyfriend, instead of the father, reject her (...

... middle of paper ...

...e not accepted. In this respect, this fear could go beyond teen pregnancy and be applied to topics involving either sex, such as homosexuality, drinking, smoking, and more. People begin to learn and see sex, alcohol and homosexuality during young adulthood. This is the same time when urban legends are most popular. Since so many people hearing the story share the fear of rejection, they are more interested and more likely to tell the story to others. In conclusion, the story displays young people’s fears surrounding premarital sex, teenage pregnancy, and rejection.

Works Cited

Siwak, Christine. University of Maryland Legends Collection. October 2004. http://www.wam.umd.edu/~dschloss/Legends/crybaby.htm

Schlossman, David. University of Maryland Legends Collection. April 2005. http://www.wam.umd.edu/~dschloss/Legends/crybaby_westminster.htm

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