Urban Legends
Copyright 2005 by Suzy Wurtz
The old story my friend
heard twenty years ago in Baltimore supposedly took place in Washington, D.C.
The Doberman pinscher was barking wildly one night. The owner checked the door
and premises, but saw no one. The next morning, the Doberman was behaving oddly
and started choking. The owner rushed the animal to the veterinarian who
extracted three human fingers from the dog's throat. So there WAS someone
lurking the night before! Or so the story goes. Many years later, my friend
moved to Minneapolis and heard the exact same story, except the location of the
story was the Twin Cities.
Stories like this have been passed by word of mouth for
years, whether it's the rumor that the eccentric senior has a mattress filled
with cash or the “true” details of an unsolved crime. In the 20th century, you
only heard these myths sporadically. But in the age of the Internet, we are
peppered with a constant stream of these urban legends and tall tales. Those of
you with email know well the nefarious “forwards.”
These email tall tales often warn me of danger by telling the
story of someone one who escaped harm, much like the owner of the Doberman. One
of the latest to greet me was a story of a woman who outwitted a rapist who was
posing as a policeman. From her car, she dialed a two-digit number (77) on her
cell phone to summon help. Or so the story goes.
I often delete such messages, but sometimes I visit the Urban
Legends Reference page at
www,snopes.com,
a debunking site run by David and Barbara Mikkelson. Sure enough, the story was
on their Top 25 current urban legends. The site, which uses information from
readers and well as their own research (with cited references), found no basis
for the story of the young woman. Though many states do have a two-digit number
on which you can call for help from your cell phone, not every state is the
same. (However, 911 works everywhere).
Another cell phone hoax I received warned that telemarketers
were going to start calling my cell phone unless I signed a Do Not Call list.
According to the Urban Legends Reference site, it's true that wireless companies
are planning to compile a cell phone directory, but the news about telemarketers
is false.
Equally annoying are the email tall tales about some dying
child who will receive money each time you forward the message. Most of these
children do not exist, and I've got news for you: if some company was going to
give money away, they'd do it with a big publicity splash, not silently as each
an email is forwarded.
It's the same with Bill Gates. At least twice a year for the
last five years, I have received various forms of an email telling me that the
Microsoft founder will give me $1000 if I forward the message to others. I am
amazed to see that it's still around. The email states that Microsoft is trying
to track distribution with some new software, which snopes.com says does not
even exist---yet. I happen to know that Bill Gates DOES give away millions of
dollars through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. To get his money, you
have to be a worthy recipient, not some schlump like me who receives a forwarded
message.
Encouraging wide distribution is popular in Internet hoaxes.
It reminds me of an adolescent urban legend: if you say “Bloody Mary” thirteen
times into a mirror, a dead woman's image will appear. The children who tell
this story have no idea about the historic figure or (we hope) the cocktail.
Thirteen repetitions do not bring up her image. Similarly, forwarding a hoax
message ten or one hundred times does not bring good luck, bad luck, health, or
monies to anyone.
At snopes.com (yes, Faulkner fans, it's named after the
fictional family) you can check the urban legends you've received about
celebrities, computer viruses, sick children, product warnings, and a host of
other myths. Besides Internet hoaxes, the site has information about old wives'
tales and other oral legends, too, including the one about the choking Doberman.
Unless I see the story in a legitimate news source, I will
continue to ignore and delete these emailed tall tales. And the only three
fingers that would interest me would be three fingers of Scotch.
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