Last year I wrote about my friend Gertrude (name changed to protect the guilty) in a post entitled
Moral Mess. After our little exchange, she quit sending emails. Months and months went by with no forwarded junk mail from her. And then it began again: first an occasional email, then several, and now the flood has again become overwhelming. This afternoon I got another one from her, but this time I think I'll leave in all skips and spaces that indicate it's been around cyberspace for quite some time:
> Subject: Please help
>
> Please help do this... refuse to accept these when they are handed
> back to you. ? I received one from the Post Office as change and I
> asked for a dollar bill instead..the lady just smiled and said way to
> go, so she had read this e-mail. ? Please help out... our world is in
> enough trouble without this too!!!!!
>
> U.S. Government to Release New Dollar Coins
>
> >
>
> You guessed it....' IN GOD WE TRUST '
> IS GONE!!!
>
> If ever there was a reason to boycott something, THIS IS IT!!!!
>
> DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE
>
> Together we can force them out of circulation.
>
> Please send to all on your
> mail list !!!
Here's my reply:
Gertrude, I don't know your friends, but you send me so much mis-information that I've begun to sigh when I see email forwarded from you. Here are some FACTS about the new dollar coin you are so concerned about:
Edge-Incused Inscriptions
The edge-incused inscriptions found on Presidential $1 Coins include the year of minting or issuance, "E Pluribus Unum," "In God We Trust" and the mint mark. However, there are two processes for producing the edge-incused lettering and each produces a different result.
See that part in red? That inscription you're so worried about is there, after all. It's inscribed along the edge of the coin. I got my information from the U.S. Mint page, here, where there's even a photo of that edge.
From now on, let's just pretend that if it's a forward from your mis-informed alarmist friends, I'd rather not be bothered with deleting it, okay?
Love,
~~~ Bonnie
Here's my reply:
Amen! You go girl!
ReplyDeleteWe changed to dollar and two dollar coins years ago, and like everything you get used to them. We also got rid of 1 and 2 cent pieces as well.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I don't think we had to worry about such things as having to worry about whether or not In God We Trust was still on the coins!
Thank you for this post, Bonnie - I get so very tired of these kinds of forwarded messages...I don't even read them anymore, they just go right into the trash. Maybe *this* time Gertrude will get the message!
ReplyDeleteI love this part:
ReplyDelete"our world is in
> enough trouble without this too!!!!!"
So let's waste our time forwarding emails instead of feeding the hungry or fixing the planet.
My Mom was bad for this too but I told her to stop sending me this stuff. I have a friend who gets 20 emails a day from one person with inspirational messages. The thing about this is that the person sending these things will just get ignored when they do send something important. It's email-cry-wolf.
That is one of *those* emails, isn't it? Alarmist nonsense. And friends like that are just annoying.
ReplyDeletecjh
"Gertrude" replied today: "Gee, sorry, Bonnie. I just can't remember much anymore. I ALREADY HAD seen the one about the gold dollar some time ago and just forgot it. But I surely didn't think you would be so disgruntled about it! Maybe the one below will soothe your attitude. But I won't be sending you anymore of anything. Old age isn't much fun, is it??"
ReplyDeleteDoesn't this sound like she's forgotten she sent this email to me YESTERDAY? Speaking of old age, I'm 67 and she's at or near 90. Do I sound disgruntled ("displeased, discontented, sulky, peevish")? Okay, "displeased" does fit. Should I have "respected my elders" and said nothing?
If I'm not mistaken, once upon a time our money didn't have the phrase on it...money seems to me to be an odd place to affirm God. Anyhow, like everyone, I get these sorts of emails too. Delete, delete delete! I hate getting the dumb jokes too. One guy who is too busy to bother reading my blog (horrors) is the worst offender. I guess he has his priorities. :-)
ReplyDeleteBonnie -
ReplyDeleteGiven that she's 90 something, I'd be inclined simply to delete it and let her email happily away. In a small way it's helping keep her mind engaged in something and the two seconds it takes me to delete it isn't that much.
I have a cousin who is in her 70's and very forgetful. That's what I do with her emails.
cjh
I had a similar email friend, who sent much junk and misinformation. I sent her an email about email, and how to rid it of addresses, and how to check validity at snopes.com, etc. and she got insulted and quit emailing me. I think I should be happy at that!
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who used to forward a lot of heavy graphics that completely shut my email down because I was on dial-up, while she was mailing from a high-powered work address. And, she didn't *read* her emails, just forwarded things constantly. So, regardless of how much I begged her to please stop sending those adorable pictures that were locking up my computer, she didn't quit. My solution was to block her email. It sucked because she's a friend and I didn't want to be rude. But, I wasn't getting any letters from her, anyway -- just junk.
ReplyDeleteBut Bookfool, wasn't SHE the one who was being rude?
ReplyDeleteYes, Judy, you should be happy she quit!
They DO say in God We Trust. I kind of like these coins, but I never see anyone use them and feel like I have to explain when I do. I think they should have made them a different size or thickness....If you forward something, in my opinion, it is like you saying it yourself! (just one exclamation point :)
ReplyDelete