Rumors
by Athena
Rumors are a beautiful thing, aren’t they? Except when they are about you. Now I know that being
in the limelight in any profession makes you “fair game” for rumors, false accusations and the like, but there is
something about this type of situation that has really irritated me more than normal. For instance at least twice in the last month
I have seen rumors spread about two WWF personalities which turned out not to be true. The first time, the character,
known as Viscera had supposedly swerved trying to avoid a cat and hit a tree, thus sustaining fatal injuries.
Well of course, the juicier a rumor is, the faster it spreads and becomes “gospel truth”. The rumor his several news boards,
lists and “reliable” newsletters without anyone giving thought to checking the story out BEFORE posting it.
Now as it turns out, there was an individual who posted on an allegedly reliable news board under several different names,
which lent credence to the story. This person obviously has way too much time on his or her hands to be contriving
and then carrying out such a plan, but what surprised me most about this is that the no one was concerned with the
fact that all of these “different reports” that came in were from the same ISP number!!!! It seemed like once
again somebody’s brain cells waved “bye – bye” down the birth canal. We are not talking about the typical
“somebody was seen with someone else” rumor – this was about this person’s death! What if, by some coincidence
a family member or friend were perusing the message boards and saw something like this?? Put yourself in their place –
how would YOU feel if you heard about a friend or family member’s “demise” online??? I know I would be more
than a little upset. Then we have the hot topic of the weekend – the supposed arrest of Mark Callaway aka “The Undertaker”
on possession and dealing of marijuana. Hello??? Did we not learn after the Viscera fiasco? Apparently not.
This man, who has striven (I think very successfully) to keep his private life private, has to be embarrassed by
yet another bogus report? Now to the news board’s and newsletter’s credit they did say that they story had not
been confirmed, but STILL, the person who emailed it is cited the San Francisco Herald, which to my knowledge is not
an actual newspaper for the bay area. I am the type of person that if I am told that a story printed in a newspaper
or magazine, I am looking for a copy of it to confirm. Again, this guy, who has given of himself over and over for the
enjoyment of millions, working more than 200 dates a year, whether he was injured or healthy, get shafted in a major way.
Not only does he have to bear the stigma of this false report, but his family also. Think about this: How much did you
really appreciate it when one of your schoolmates came up to you and told you your mother or father did
something that you knew they didn’t do? Exactly my point. So I guess the point of the tirade is this – when you hear
or see something that you don’t know for a fact is true – will ya please stop for one second and try to consider
what effect this may have on the person the rumor is about? Unless of course it’s you and you happen to like that
sort of attention. In that case you have won an all expense paid trip to the looney bin with a specially
fitted jacket as an added extra bonus.