Read this if you play by email

[Quikngruvn]

Working at an in-house Help Desk for a couple of local businesses, we'd receive an e-mail from someone with one of these Messages attached saying 'Is this real?' Usually it's a virus hoax, but this one passed our way early this year. I thought the bill number was bogus, but I searched the 'net anyway. The first firm refutation I found was on the website of a member of the House-- none other than Gary Condit! (This was before the Chandra Levy tragedy....)

Anyway, instead of fretting over internet taxes, I went travelling and met this gorgeous woman at a local bar. We went back to my hotel room, we had a few drinks... and then I woke up in the bathtub, covered with ice, and found a note saying my kidney had been removed. Trying hard not to panic, I found a pay phone and tried to call to find the nearest hospital. Out of habit I checked for loose change in the coin return... and got pricked by a needle. Then I saw a note that said, "Ha ha! Now you've got AIDS too!" Almost delirious from the pain, I got in my car and tried to get to a hospital. On the way I passed a car that didn't have its lights on, even though it was two in the morning. So I flashed my lights to let them know their lights weren't on. Five minutes later the car had doubled back and six teenage punks beat the living snot out of me.

Heh. I love urban legends and hoaxes. They're entertaining for those who know better and scare the willies out of people who don't. 'Course, my wife made this simple but profound observation: if these things were true, they'd be on the news.

Quikngruvn, an urban legend in his own mind

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Stay alert. Trust no one. Keep your laser handy.
--from the RPG Paranoia, now my PBW mantra