that some people just get such a thrill out of embellishing facts? I've seen enough examples of it to know that its considered part of human nature, but it mystifies me. I think....sadly....its just another form of control and makes people with low self-esteem feel important.Case in point. Two days ago I received a call from my daughter. I was at work. Now, her subdivision sits nestled between two pretty well-traveled roads. She has four exits/entrances in her sub; three of them onto one road and one on the other. She often takes the exit that is least used and that's the one that is the only one out onto one of the roadways. When she tried to go that way, the road was closed; completely blocked off by police and other emergency vehicles. She turned around and went back home and questioned some of her neighbors as to what was wrong. The story she got was varied but it basically came down to this. There had been a horrible accident. A cement truck had tried to take the curve too fast, flipped over and landed on a car filled with teenagers and killed them all.
Filled with dread and concern, she thought maybe I could find out more info at work but the only thing I could find out was....yes, the road was closed due to some sort of accident. Usually they close the roadways when there is a fatality and so that part of the story made sense. The more information she sought, the more horrible it became. Thankfully, she knew where her own son was....he was with her. But he has so many friends who drive and he was only able to get in touch with a couple of them. One of them claimed he had gotten "close" to the accident scene before being turned away and that he saw three bodies laying on the roadway covered up. Anyone who has teenagers or knows anyone who has teenagers were all worried. The end result of this ended up to be.....yes, a cement truck did lose its load on the roadway and made a horrible mess. But no one was hurt. The road had to be blocked in order to start clean-up procedures. The so-called bodies laying alongside the roadway was nothing more than globs of cement.
While I'm very thankful that it was nothing more than this.....I am appalled that this story got so far out of hand. Someone had to have started it and what kind of satisfaction did they get out of making so many people worry? Did your elementary school teacher ever play that game in your class where she tells the first kid in class something and they pass it on.....from kid to kid this information is whispered and at the end....after being told approximately 30 times, the end story comes out so different its ridiculous. She did this as an example for us to not always believe what we hear and I'm reminded of that class exercise more often than I like to admit.
I guess for some people there isn't enough heartache and drama in the world and they have to create more. I really do try not to pass on gossip but I admit....sometimes I have. But I have never embellished or added to it. Of course just by repeating it, I guess I'm nearly as guilty as the embellishers. Note to self: Work on that. Hey, out there....remember to keep smilin'!
