Commentary—

Modern Hoaxes For Modern Folks

By Nancy K. Crevier

What’s so funny? For many people, it’s April Fool’s Day. Celebrated on the first day of April, it is unclear as to the exact origin of this day that embraces jokes and general tomfoolery. It may have sprung from 16th Century France, when April 1 was celebrated as the start of the new year. The change in calendar introduced by Pope Gregory in 1562 moved the new year to January 1. Without the aid of media and newspapers to spread the word, many people remained in the dark, continuing to celebrate the new year the first day of April; thus they were named “April Fools” by the more enlightened people of the age.

Other theories connect the lightheartedness and whimsy of the day to the vernal equinox. Mother Nature plays many “jokes” with the weather this time of year and for ancient people of the middle ages, wild spring revelry often took place as the season turned from the bite of winter to the pleasantries of spring.

At any rate, the custom of celebrating the first of April with a bit of ribaldry and merriment followed the early colonists from England to America, and so it continues to this day.

With the introduction of the Internet to society, though, it is no longer necessary to wait for April Fool’s Day to be the butt of a joke. The Internet and email are rife with examples of elaborate hoaxes. Who has not opened their email only to find that their correspondent’s best friend’s cousin’s daughter’s roommate’s sister is passing on crucial information that must be forwarded for the safety and well-being of anyone who comes within five feet of a computer?

Gasp! It is not an Internet hoax! It really happened to Lauren’s roommate’s best friend! She was nearly attacked when pulled over by a fake cop. Thank goodness, she knew enough to dial #77 and was rescued by a squad of state police officers. PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE WOMEN YOU CARE ABOUT!

Oh no! There is lead in lipstick; the microwave is turning plastic plates into vehicles of cancer; and soda cans are contaminated with deadly, disease-ridden rat urine. And with gardening season just around the corner, what a blessing to be warned multiple times about the horrible Formosan termites mired in the bags of mulch at the local nursery.

The Olympic Torch or Invitation virus is going to cause havoc beyond imagination to anyone bold enough to ignore this warning and open email carrying those words in the subject line. Luckily, the forward button on millions of computers across America has averted computer chaos, once again.

Is there a woman on earth who has not paused to PLEASE, P-L-E-ASE read that truly important, not to be ignored piece of email noting that a very simple test for ovarian cancer exists, the CA-125 test and be sure to override the doctor’s concerns that it is unnecessary?

Who can tell how many gas stations have been saved from a firestorm created by a customer’s carelessness in using a cell phone near the pump? And how many people are standing out by their cars hoping to unlock them with a call on the cell phone, thanks to the astute information provided them by a thoughtful email friend?

Email hoaxes have become an every day occurrence to anyone with a computer and are often funny or inconsequential. After all, does anyone really care if Lee Marvin and Captain Kangaroo served together on Iwo Jima during World War II? (They did not.) If the US Army trained John Denver as a sniper in the Vietnam War, does it matter to most folks? (Also not true.)

When it comes to dispensing medical information, though, email hoaxes are a source of concern and anxiety for those who take the missives to heart. Doctors are plagued by patients who feel obliged to pursue health rumors spread via the web, leading to unnecessary interventions and wasted time on both the part of the patient and the doctor. There is more than a little bit of a nasty edge to unfounded hoaxes in the medical world.

Sorting out fact from fiction is the challenge, and because many e-mail hoaxes are grounded in just a bit of truth, it is not always so simple. 

Purportal.com, Snopes.com and Quackwatch.com are three of many myth-busting websites that help separate truth from fiction in emails. They are worth tapping into when questionable information comes tiptoeing over the Internet.

Common sense can help, too. If the email is not signed by the person who sent it to you and is broadcast to many, it is probably not factual. Important medical information is going to be made public somewhere other than a random email. Still not sure? Watch out for multiple exclamation points and CAPITAL LETTERS that emphasize the IMPORTANCE OF THE MESSAGE!!!!! If in doubt, do not pass on the email.

Let Mother Nature play her little jokes this time of year and be a fool on April 1st. But take a pass on passing on Internet rumors.