Dear Linda, I agree. I alerted a long business mailing list, as well as all of my friends, a year or so ago to please help find Sarah Brown, missing from one of the Carolinas but believed to be still alive. Imagine my embarrassment when someone wrote back and told me it was a hoax. Since then, I have found two very wonderful sites, which you mention: http://www.snopes.com/ and http://scambusters.org/ Now, whenever I see the words "Caused Panic in New York City", "As reported on CNN", or other such language, I immediately go to one or both of those and plug in the keywords of the email. I usually find them there as hoaxes. My personal favorite chain letters, though, are the ones that tell me that if I don't forward them, I must be ashamed of God and Jesus--as if it is any of their business what I believe in, who I am ashamed or not ashamed of, and as if God and Jesus care whether or not I am bothering my friends with another mooshy, emotional blackmail letter. I would hope that God and Jesus smile when I hit "delete". By the way, Dave Cottrell just did a nice forum on exactly how bad these letters can be. I hope hundreds more read it than the ones that actually posted to it. Thanks,

Hi, all. I got one of these from a 'friend' a couple of years ago. I wrote her back and told her I was fine with humor, prayer requests, personal news and information about her new listings, but if she thought it was appropriate to wish me bad luck for not sending those things on, we couldn't be friends any more. Then there are the gifting club ones that start out this is not spam. I assume the people sending me those are just ignorant, so if I'm feeling kind, I send them a letter that says 'saying it isn't spam doesn't make it not spam' and explaining the legalities. One lady wrote back and said thank you. Never heard from the rest. Usually I'm too busy so I just delete. The best one I ever got, though, was about sending your husband to the top person on the list and in a couple of weeks you'll get 8000 husbands, one of which might be worth keeping. That one cracked me up. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I didn't have any spare husbands lying around the house that I was willing to send on that kind of a gamble, lol. Cheri PS, loved Peter's revised version of the story, Linda with steam coming out her ears. You go, girl.

Hi Cheri; ===================================== The best one I ever got, though, was about sending your husband to the top person on the list and in a couple of weeks you'll get 8000 husbands, one of which might be worth keeping. That one cracked me up. ===================================== Too funny. I wouldn't trade mine either. Course if I'd gotten that email during my first marriage... hmm... might have been an idea. LOL It reminded me of a funny ad I saw a few years ago. Apparently some husband out there told his wife "it's me or the dog" -- so she placed a classified ad with a photo of the dog and beside it, a photo of her husband. The ad said "one of them has to go..." lol. As the story goes, they did find a good home for the dog. Not 100% if that one was true... but it sure was good for a laugh. : ) L

Linda, LOL. My husband has a whole boatload of them with something along the lines of Wife--if you go fishing one more time, I'm leaving Husband--I'll miss you, honey or Husband to friend--I got a new pickup for my wife Friend--Good trade I have an extremely unsophisticated sense of humor. I laugh at everything from a pratfall to Steven Wright's very dry humor. I used to have a cartoon that showed a woman saying to a very disgusted-looking man, "You knew I laughed at HeeHaw when you married me." I could relate. Cheri

I never forward anything any more to any body. I have heard that many virses are being attacked to forward emails. If me deleting it offends people so be it. I jesus would quit loving me because I don't forward some email, tyhen he is not the Jesus of the Bible. Linda some folks you can't help no matter how hard you try. Even some folks on Adland. I had some really rude things said on here. But all I do is stop going to their forums and stop posting and delet them from my friends list. """I am "self righteous" and unprofessional. I am "certainly" not the kind of person they'd EVER want to work with. (Well, that's mutual)""" LOL But this is what happened they pulled you down to their level. They comfirmed you email address when you replied. Linda you are professional so don't let them press your buttons. I know it is upsetting. Like I said I have had it happen here on Adland by people you would never believe if I said their names. But I will not. It seems people want to get in come kinda of "Barking contest" to prove who is the big dog. I don't have time for that. They win, because I wnat play. You don't have to either. Even a newbie should know they want die and beside thats I know newbies that don't know how to forward things any way. God bless those newbies. And God blees you my friend! Johnny