You can send this along to all those people who keep sending you annoying e-mail chain letters. In fact, maybe it should be sent to EVERYONE with a computer and they would get a clue!

"I will NOT get bad luck, lose my friends, or lose my mailing lists if I DON'T forward an e-mail.

I will NOT hear any music, see a taco dog, or see a cool pop-up screen if DO forward an e-mail.

Bill Gates is NOT going to send me money, Victoria's Secret doesn't know anything about a gift certificate they're supposed to send me and Ford will not give me a 50% discount even if I have forwarded my e-mail to more than 50 people.

I will NEVER receive gift certificates, coupons, or freebies from Coca Cola, Cracker Barrel, Old Navy, or anyone else if I send an e-mail to 10 people who don't know who I am anyway.

I will NEVER see a pop up window if I forward an e-mail ... NEVER!!!!

My phone will not MYSTERIOUSLY ring after I forward an e-mail. There is NO SUCH THING as an e-mail tracking program, and I am not STUPID enough to think that someone will send me $100 for forwarding an e-mail to 10 or more people.

There is no kid with cancer through the Make a Wish program in England collecting anything. He did when he was 7 yrs old. He is now cancer free and 35 years old and DOESN'T WANT ANYMORE POST CARDS, CALLING CARDS or GET WELL CARDS!

The government does not have a bill in congress called 901B (or whatever they named it this week) that if passed will enable them to charge us 5 cents for every sent e-mail.

There will be NO cool dancing, singing, waving, colorful flower, character, or program I will receive immediately after I forward an e-mail. People are just trying to talk me into doing it to make me look like a fool.

The American Red Cross will NOT donate 50 cents to a certain individual dying of some never heard of before disease for every e-mail address I send this to. The American Red Cross RECEIVES donations, they don't donate!

And finally, I WILL NOT let others guilt me into sending things on to my friends for fear they will think I am not their friend ... or by telling me I have no conscious or don't believe in JESUS CHRIST!! If God wants to send me a message, I believe the bushes in my yard will burn before He picks up a PC to pass it along ... but even if it does come by e-mail, HE will send me one at which point I'm SURE I will know it will be from HIM. AND if He does, I'm sure He will care enough to delete all those annoying forwards inside it!"

Now, repeat this 4 times to yourself until you've memorized it and then send it along to at least 5 of your friends before the next full moon or you will surely be constipated for the next 3 months and all of your hair will fall out!!!!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Answers

The problem we have is that most of our annoying chain e-mails come from people that we don't want to offend - people we care enough about that we want to get their genuine e-mails. We just drop them in the trash unopened and put up with it!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Cass, It's good to see this subject addressed. I am rather new to the computer, but I knew something was wrong when I got some of these chain letters which told of people having bad luck , and or dying after not passing them on. Whoh, no way am I going to contribute to anything that imposes such threats, The important thing is that we tell our children, our mothers and any other unsuspecting contrubuters that any and all chain letters are just cover ups to send you junk e-mails.

The other day I got one telling me how original and special I was, and that I should send this message to five other people so's that they could send it to five more, so's that they could all send it back to you. How special is that!

Crazy world! Tren

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I just delete them unopened also. I would much rather have a real note to me from someone than those things. I have begged people to take me off of their lists, some I didn't even know. It seems it's easy to get the same one from several people. I told myself along time ago I would not feel quilty not looking at them. Half the time nothing was there anyway. If I find something on the net I know someone else is interested in, I will go to that page, click FILE, and SEND LINK, but I just send it to the one person. I don't like it at all that my email addy is grouped in with all those mass mailings. I don't know those people. If one friend puts your email in with their mailings, that all it takes. I think thats rude, and I've never done that to anyone, I just send one email at a time.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

I love it! I about laughed myself to death the first time I got an "electronic" chain letter. Look at the bright side tho- the old chain letters were so much work and expense. Stamps, writing out the names, etc. This spin off technology makes it so much easier to be a goof!

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

I delete 'em too. Don't bother to read 'em.

What really irritates me is when someone sends over some huge attachment to email. Hey we don't have a T-1 here folks...just a clunky old land based phone dial-up modem, etc. I usually don't read those either!

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

I don't think there's anything wrong with sending emails in a group, per se, Cindy. The trouble comes in when people don't "trim" all those extraneous addresses before forwarding, and as you said, then people who don't know you at all have your email address.

If I want to send a big bunch (that rarely happens, but occasionally), I use BCC, because then the recipients can't see all the other addresses.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001