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1. Big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is
not giving you $1,000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation.
There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. You can
relax; there is no need to pass it on ``just in case it's true.''
Furthermore, just because someone said in the message, four
generations back, that ``we checked it out and it's legit,'' that
does not actually make it true.
2. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up
in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it
happened to their cousin. If you are hell-bent on believing the
kidney-theft ring stories, please see:
urbanlegends.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm. And I quote: ``The
National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual
victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None
have.'' That's ``none'' as in ``zero.'' Not even your friend's
cousin.
3. Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even
if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a copy
at www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html. Then, if you make the recipe and
decide that the cookies are that awesome, feel free to pass the
recipe on.
4. We all know 500 ways to drive roommates crazy, irritate co-workers
and creep out people on an elevator. We also know exactly how many
engineers, college students, Usenet posters and people from each and
every world ethnicity it takes to change a lightbulb.
5. EVEN IF THE
latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium that went
particulate over the Eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this
information would reach the public via an AOL chain letter?
6. There is no ``Good Times'' virus. In fact, you should never, ever,
ever forward any e-mail containing any virus warning unless you first
confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals
with virii. Try www.norton.com. And even then, don't forward it. We
don't care.
7. If your CC: list is regularly longer than the actual content of
your message, you're probably going to hell.
8. If you're using Outlook, IE or Netscape to write e-mail, turn off
the ``HTML encoding.'' Those of us on UNIX shells can't read it and
don't care enough to save the attachment and then view it with a Web
browser, since you're probably forwarding us a copy of the goddamned
Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe anyway.
9. IF YOU STILL
absolutely must forward that 10th-generation message from a friend,
at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing
everyone else who's received it over the last six months. It sure
wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the ``)'' that begin each line.
Besides, if it has gone around that many times -- I've probably
already seen it.
10. Craig Shergold in England is not dying of cancer or anything else
at this time and would like everyone to stop sending him their
business cards. He apparently is also no longer a ``little boy''
either.
11. Big Bird has been saved already. Maybe the date 1995 should have
tipped you off, or the mention of Robert Mapplethorpe, who died in
1989. If that doesn't do it, consider how long it takes to circulate
a petition at one signature per e-mail, and you're No. 485. In any
event -- enough already.
12. In many mail programs, the capital R (for respond) replies to
just the sender, while a small r replies to everyone on the list. (In
one program, alas, it's just the reverse.) In any event, please
consider whether everyone needs to read your ``Thanks for sending
that along'' or ``Cool!'' before replying.
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