One of my pet-peeves is lame e-mail FWD:'s that contain random pictures (IE - they don't have anyone I know in them and they weren't shot by anyone I know...), lame jokes, surveys or "about me" questionnaires, anything that has to do with "forward this to X number of people and you will... If you don't...", etc, etc.
It is one thing if I am forwarded a news story or a interesting fact. Perhaps a friend comes across a piece of information, a photo, song, link, or video that relates a conversation that we had or a common interest. All of those things would be totally appropriate to forward a long. However, the latest story that I have to forward to 12 people or I will have bad luck for 7 years is something I would prefer not to have come my way.
To make things worse, they seem to be creeping in to txt messaging. I need this like I need a whole in the head. In the last 24 hours I have receive the following twice:
"Due to the fact that micheal jackson is 99% plastic, he will be melted down into lego blocks so kids can play with him for a change."
First of all... I didn't find that funny. Second of all... Micheal is actually spelled Michael (misspelled in both messages). Third of all... I know that the guy was weird, a seemed like a pervert, and allegedly did some horrible things - But the guy just died. Is this really appropriate?
While we are on the subject, I was surprised by some of the responses on sites such as facebook and twitter to the news of his death. Some people I knew were - for lack of a better word - celebratory... that seems a little messed up no matter what you think of the guy...