I almost never forward chain letters. I don’t think it’s very neighborly. But there are times when the subject matter is just too interesting, or unusual.
When I do, I take time to explain why I’m forwarding the message. I don’t just slap new aliases into the To: line. I want people to know I’m an honest guy, not a begger, or a come-on. Here’s the outer wrapper I sent a few days ago.
The first part of this is verifiable and fun! The second part is … hmmm … iffy, but seems like a great premise for a short story or a novelty poem (and maybe I’ll take a shot at writing it).
So far it’s okay. The recipients should understand I forwarded it for them to enjoy. Here’s the first part.
This year we are going to experience four unusual dates.
1/1/11
1/11/11
11/1/11
11/11/11And thats not all.
Take the last two digits of your birth year. Now add the age you will be this year. The result will be 111 for everyone.
This year October will have five Saturdays, five Sundays and five Mondays.
That’s benign enough. But then it takes the usual twist, the promise of (or beg for, if you will) riches for doing nothing more than forwarding the message. I’m … well … human, so I succumbed. I left it in the message when I sent it to everyone in my family and 10 of my friends.
The dates in October are called the year of the money. This happens only every 823 years. These particular years are known as ‘Moneybags’. The proverb goes that if you send this message to eight special people, money will appear in the next four days as is explained in Chinese feng-shui. Those who don’t forward this message will not receive anything.
Well, I waited four days. I waited another day. Two more. And no one’s offered me money. I guess I never expected that would happen. Maybe I need to wait another 823 years.
My takeaway is — have fun with communications. Don’t expect it to work miracles. Have a goal. Mine was to entertain my friends (errr, ummm … embarrassed blush on my face … to get rich). And if nothing comes of it, don’t be afraid to laugh.