It makes me sad that I can no longer make polls.

[constance]

When you get an email which has been forwarded one thousand times and is all about something awful which is going to happen if you do not read and disseminate immediately (to wit: GANG MEMBERS ARE PLANNING TO KILL YOU PERSONALLY WHERE YOU STAND AS PART OF THEIR NEFARIOUS INITIATION PROCESS PLEASE WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS) or else is all about something wonderful which will only happen if you read and disseminate immediately (to wit: BILL GATES WILL PAY YOU HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS IF YOU FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE), do you:

(a) Forward it immediately, as the instructions demand
(b) ignore it
(c) look it up on snopes.com (or some equivalent thereof), determine its truth or falsehood, and then ignore it
(d) look it up on snopes.com (or some equivalent thereof), determine its truth or falsehood, and then share the info by clicking Reply or Reply All

:::

I've been toying with a story in my head, this morning, one using Neko Case's awesomely gunslinging "Things That Scare Me" as a launching point, and this morning I looked up the lyrics and had to check ten sites before I could even begin to acknowledge that I might be hearing the last two lines wrong. Every lyric site I clicked on says that haunted by American dreams is the line, but I cannot believe this is really true! In my opinion, Miss Case sings hunted by American dreams quite clearly. In my opinion, this is not even a question! Plus, my version is better: not just for purposes of the story I'm telling, but in general. But I do not know for certain! And I must know for certain! Listen to it, why don't you, and tell me what you think.

Comments

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

1. ignore it and scowl in annoyance

2. clearly hunted unless she has some weird accent

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I do "d" but since the only person to send me these sorts of emails is my mom, and since she is, apparently, only distrustful when it comes to "snopes.com (or some equivalent thereof)," I'm really just chasing my tail.

What is it they say? That madness is defined, in part, by doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to get a different result? *g*

[emily-spinach.livejournal.com]

D, usually. If it's a money-related/positive scam, I'll just hit "reply." If it's a scary one that could create panic about shopping malls or walking outside or strollers or pigeons or whatever, I'll hit "reply all."

TOTALLY "hunted." No question.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I either do (b) or (c)., usually with much sneering and scoffing. If it's my sweet little aunt, I'll go so far as to send her the snopes link, just because I'm ornery like that.

And hahahahahhaha- that is my favorite Neko Case song ever (I think it's been on a mix CD in my car since 2005) and I always thought she was saying "hounded". "Haunted" or "hunted" never even occurred to me. Then again, I am renowned for my mishearing of lyrics.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

E-mails like that are the reason I have an e-mail filter that takes anything any member of my family sends me and, if there's a FWD in the subject line, moves it directly into the trash.

[hypomnema.livejournal.com]

(d). I love it. I love being the nerdy disprover. LOVE IT.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I CAN'T EVEN GIVE AN ANONYMOUS GIFT BECAUSE THAT MFA RYB.

[coco-palmolive.livejournal.com]

I used to be a big fan of D until I realized how little the senders cared. Now mostly C, because I like to know the background story.