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camwynA co-worker of mine sent out an email today to 'all staff' and a friend of his outside the Chapter. As soon as I opened it and saw the chain of people who'd sent it along, I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Sure enough, it was the old 'eek! eek! BAD BAD MEN in parking lots are KNOCKING WOMEN OUT WITH ETHER! Eek! Eek!' urban legend. I went to Snopes.com and pulled up the page on the subject - which contained the exact text of my co-worker's warning, along with the fact that there's only one case that even resembles these warnings in the real world and it was almost certainly a woman defrauding her employer of cash - and pasted the relevant bits in before hitting 'reply all'. I don't want my users sending this kind of crap around, so it has to be cut off before it has a chance to take root...
I don't know why, but these stories offend me. The fact that people run around warning each other of DREADFUL DREADFUL THINGS, when the dreadful things they're warning about aren't real, makes me angry. There's so many things in this world that are a problem, or are a danger, and they get ignored... but one incoming email of 'eeeeee BAD BAD MEN WITH STUFF IN A BOTTLE!' and they're all in a panic. They throw away ATM receipts without checking to see if their card number is printed on them, but 'eeeeee MEN HIDE UNDER CARS IN MALL PARKING LOT AND SLASH WOMEN'S ANKLES!' makes them do safety walkarounds, even when they drive Toyotas. (Although safety walkarounds are a good idea to make sure no one's gotten into your car, the emailed warnings would have you believe that there are gangbangers and slavering rapists willing to scurry under your little Japanese import and lie in wait for a chance at your Achilles tendon.) They won't get a flu shot to protect themselves against a common, nasty, occasionally deadly virus, but they warn each other solemnly that mail from the Klingermann foundation may contain germ-laden sponges and bananas may have necrotizing fasciitis in the skin. The world is a strange, wonderful, scary, dangerous, upsetting, astonishing place, and there are real dangers and real rewards in it; why then do people persist in making up such stupid, petty lies? And why are people so willing to believe them simply because they get the lies in their email? Would it cost so much, really, to check? Would it be so hard to realise that there are no identifying markers as to where and when the incidents they're told of took place ("3:30 PM at the Wal-Mart", without city, state, day, month, or year, for example), and that this is probably not a sign of a very accurate report? I know they think they are doing good or taking some form of Action Against A Big and Scary World, but they're not - they're not even checking to see if their action is the right one. Is verification really that hard?
And what the hell is up with the people who start things like this? It was one thing when it was myths about how the sun got up the sky, but why do people insist on making up stories... no, I know why, I know why. *sigh* It's using a Big and Hyperbolic Example to Make an Important Point. Yeshua bin Miryam spoke to his disciples and the people of ancient Israel in parables to make sure that they got his point, because no one was willing to listen if he just cut straight to the point. People are always like that. So someone who hears about a woman claiming she was knocked out at the bank says 'hmm, I hope my sister knows enough not to get into that kind of trouble' and says 'here, it happened to this person' - or, worse yet, 'it happened to me' - to make sure that the sister pays attention. And then it goes on from there, and the first person thinks that they've done some good, when all they've done is spread a very stupid lie that can't be recalled. Or, sometimes, someone starts these things to scare people in general, just because they're a wanker and they get off on it...
And in the end it wastes MY users' time and MY network's server space and MY patience. So if you have a Deeply Scary Warning about something of the modern world, do me a favour. Verify the damn thing first before you send it to ANYONE at the Red Cross, because one of those people you're sending it to might send it to me.
I don't know why, but these stories offend me. The fact that people run around warning each other of DREADFUL DREADFUL THINGS, when the dreadful things they're warning about aren't real, makes me angry. There's so many things in this world that are a problem, or are a danger, and they get ignored... but one incoming email of 'eeeeee BAD BAD MEN WITH STUFF IN A BOTTLE!' and they're all in a panic. They throw away ATM receipts without checking to see if their card number is printed on them, but 'eeeeee MEN HIDE UNDER CARS IN MALL PARKING LOT AND SLASH WOMEN'S ANKLES!' makes them do safety walkarounds, even when they drive Toyotas. (Although safety walkarounds are a good idea to make sure no one's gotten into your car, the emailed warnings would have you believe that there are gangbangers and slavering rapists willing to scurry under your little Japanese import and lie in wait for a chance at your Achilles tendon.) They won't get a flu shot to protect themselves against a common, nasty, occasionally deadly virus, but they warn each other solemnly that mail from the Klingermann foundation may contain germ-laden sponges and bananas may have necrotizing fasciitis in the skin. The world is a strange, wonderful, scary, dangerous, upsetting, astonishing place, and there are real dangers and real rewards in it; why then do people persist in making up such stupid, petty lies? And why are people so willing to believe them simply because they get the lies in their email? Would it cost so much, really, to check? Would it be so hard to realise that there are no identifying markers as to where and when the incidents they're told of took place ("3:30 PM at the Wal-Mart", without city, state, day, month, or year, for example), and that this is probably not a sign of a very accurate report? I know they think they are doing good or taking some form of Action Against A Big and Scary World, but they're not - they're not even checking to see if their action is the right one. Is verification really that hard?
And what the hell is up with the people who start things like this? It was one thing when it was myths about how the sun got up the sky, but why do people insist on making up stories... no, I know why, I know why. *sigh* It's using a Big and Hyperbolic Example to Make an Important Point. Yeshua bin Miryam spoke to his disciples and the people of ancient Israel in parables to make sure that they got his point, because no one was willing to listen if he just cut straight to the point. People are always like that. So someone who hears about a woman claiming she was knocked out at the bank says 'hmm, I hope my sister knows enough not to get into that kind of trouble' and says 'here, it happened to this person' - or, worse yet, 'it happened to me' - to make sure that the sister pays attention. And then it goes on from there, and the first person thinks that they've done some good, when all they've done is spread a very stupid lie that can't be recalled. Or, sometimes, someone starts these things to scare people in general, just because they're a wanker and they get off on it...
And in the end it wastes MY users' time and MY network's server space and MY patience. So if you have a Deeply Scary Warning about something of the modern world, do me a favour. Verify the damn thing first before you send it to ANYONE at the Red Cross, because one of those people you're sending it to might send it to me.
