Folk tales, urban legends. What would we do without the net.LOL

by jam 15 Replies latest social entertainment

  • LisaRose
    LisaRose

    The mother of all urban legends

    I was on my way to the post office to pick up my case of free M&M's (sent to me because I forwarded an e-mail to five other people, celebrating the fact that the year 2000 is "MM" in Roman numerals), when I ran into a friend whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (which is predictable, since as everyone knows, there's no actual chicken in Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is why the government made them change their name to KFC).

    Anyway, one day this guy went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over and when he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEY HAD BEEN STOLEN. He saw a note on his mirror that said "Call 911!" but he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy his hard drive if he opened an e-mail entitled "Join the crew!"

    He knew it wasn't a hoax because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to prevent a global disaster in which all the computers get together and distribute the $250.00 Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates. (It's true - I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I know.)

    The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidneys, but a voice on the line first asked him to press #90, which unwittingly gave the bandit full access to the phone line at the guy's expense. Then reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note that said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS."

    Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital - the one where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every e-mail he receives. I sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of x's and o's in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to more than 10 people, you will have good luck but for only 10 people you will only have OK luck and if you send it to fewer than 10 people you will have BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS).

    So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving without its lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation.

    Send THIS to all the friends who send you their mail and you will receive 4 green M&Ms -- if you don't, the owner of Proctor and Gamble will report you to his Satanist friends and you will have more bad luck: you will get sick from the Sodium Laureth Sulfate in your shampoo, your spouse will develop a skin rash from using the antiperspirant which clogs the pores under your arms, and the U.S. government will put a tax on your e-mails forever.

    I know this is all true 'cause I read it on the Internet.

    Author unknown

  • Simon
    Simon

    Don't forget conspirary theories too ...

    NVidia recreated the moonlanding this week in graphics software and put to rest the claims that the lighting 'proved' that they were faked.

  • Simon
    Simon

    It is interesting though how many see "free information" as liberating and educational but it can just as easily be used to spread rumour and misinformation.

    Whatever lies you have to tell, someone somewhere will be ready to believe them and the internet makes finding them faster and more efficient.

    It helps to save people from cults but also helps others fall for them. Bah.

  • LisaRose
    LisaRose

    Instead of using the internet to verify if a story is true or false, which is so easy now via Snopes.com, people use it to spread stupidity even faster. Even when given proof the story is a hoax, they still believe it, confirmation bias at work.

    Here is a Mormon version of a story I heard at a JW convention back in the late sixties:

    The story goes that some sister missionarys were out tracking and knock on the door of a serial killer, uknown to them. They talk and try to get Him to talk more about the Book of Mormon. He is short and quick with them and refuses to talk any further and just closes the door.

    A few days later the police catch him, the serial killer they’ve been looking for a long time , and somehow knew about the sister missionaries and ask ” why didn’t you kill the missionarys?” which he then replies: “I was scared of the three huge Indian warriors that were standing behind them. “

    Did they steal it from the JWs, or did we steal it from them, or was it originally from another religion?

  • 20yearfader
    20yearfader

    Don't forget the walking smurf myth or the talking cats in fs myth either my father told that one to me a few years ago when he went to a convention overseas i was about 25 at the time at i sort of scared the crap out of me.

  • stuckinarut2
    stuckinarut2

    Yes, I heard the one about the sister not getting attacked because of the three big men standing behind her!

    It supposedly happened here in australia in the early 1980's....

    And, the smurf walking out of an assembly hall also supposedly happened in Australia....

    So there you go...they MUST be true.....because I was TOLD they were true!

    There is no way a witness would make up or embellish stories now would they? Hehehe.........

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