... Forwarders

Dear people who forward things without thinking,

Please read the items you are sending! Look at them with a critical eye. Think.

Much of the content I see on Facebook or in emails is spam, designed to collect contact names for some purpose or other. The content itself is trivial and harmless e.g. Name a vegetable without the letter A in.

But recently, I got one which made me think harder!
"Please help my friend "x" find her daughter, missing for the last 3 days."

The scant details gave the woman's age as 23 and there was a photo. Nothing else. It made me wonder ..... does this adult female know she is being paraded around Facebook and does she want to be found? Are the people looking for her genuinely missing her or is something else going on?  It also made me wonder, at what point did I get so cynical?

Maybe it was when I realised how many websites are dedicated to exposing hoaxers. People who post about viruses, scams and even attempted child abductions .... seemingly for entertainment.  It seems (according to Facebook) that it is Autism Awareness Week about 12 times a year.  It has got to a point that I can not trust what I see before me. Even the camera lies these days.

If my friend's daughter was missing, wouldn't I do the same? I'm sure I would, but I hope I could be more convincing so that cynical blokes like me paid attention.

Yours,

Welsh Letters

PS The 23 yr old woman walked into a police station confused about all the fuss. Sounds like she was visiting friends! Needed 2,700 'shares' to discover that!