A friend posted this picture on his Facebook Wall:
Wish

To be accurate, what he posted had a lot more text, but it was all this crappy chain-letter language, which I hate, so a little creative cropping, and I share it with you.  Whenever something fun or cute comes across my desk with a note attached that I have to “forward it to 17 people in the next eight minutes or kittens die,” I always forward it (I’m a little superstitious that way), but first, I eliminate the horrible curse that goes with it.  These are computers we work on — it’s super easy to erase the content you don’t want in your message.

Why forward something that warns of dire circumstances if the reader doesn’t do X-Y-Z in the next six minutes?  Are we so desperate to control other people’s behavior that we make them wonder, “Gee, if I don’t follow these instructions, does it really ruin my chances of getting what I want?”  That’s just creepy.

And what about the audience who receives that message?  Not to be overly-PC about this, or too touchy-feely sensitive, but what if you hit someone on their worst day, and they can’t follow the instructions, and it’s just one more thing that makes them feel like they failed?  What if your recipient has OCD, and one stupid note about getting quiz answers right and how many people to send it to costs hours out of his day?  Why spread anxiety instead of mirth and cheer?

Enjoy the test.  It’s fun.
Make your wish, then manifest it.
Do whatever the hell you want with this post after that.
It will have nothing to do with whether or not your wish comes true.

That is entirely up to you.

4 Responses

  1. I’m so with you on this! (also I successfully didn’t look at a video making fun of someone this morning. Thank you for helping me move to a higher plane of existence!)

  2. I must still be in edit mode as spotted the mistake really quickly (for me).

    I hate chain letters, chain status updates, even the ‘like because they are ill’ ones that, most likely, have some ulterior motive. My daughter got a chain letter the other day via a friend’s daughter. They’re four years old! I tore it up. Life’s tough enough without other people trying to make you feel bad. I’m a terribly superstitious person, and prone to self-guilt, so they play on my normal fears for bad luck and consequences. The worst form of bullying.

    Sorry, here endeth the rant!

  3. Rant away! I feel the same way. I am superstitious enough to worry if I don’t follow the rules, and even though I know it’s stupid, I always do it, but modify whatever the message is first, taking out the rules for anyone I send it to.

    I would be very disgruntled if my 4-year old got a chain letter. You did the right thing.