A Rant About Forwarded E-Mail...

There are several reasons I hate forwarded e-mails.

1. Most people who habitually forward e-mails NEVER send any personal e-mails inquiring about my health, my life, my opinions on the state of the economy and the upcoming election. Well, you get my point....

2. People who forward things usually never take into consideration that the recipient might not agree with the political/religious/lifestyle views contained in the forwarded e-mail....not to mention the contents could be offensive to the one receiving it.

3. People who spread misinformation by not fact checking BEFORE they send it to their entire mailing list. If you're going to warn me about someone waiting under my car to cut my achielles tendon and that this type of attack is on the rise OR you send me an e-mail project from a dying child as their last wish to see how far around the world the e-mail will go, PLEASE, for the love of God, check it out on a site such as http://www.snopes.com/!

Yesterday, I recieved this e-mail from a co-worker through our company e-mail accounts (don't even get me started on that!):

"Navy Petty Officer Mike MonsoorPO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow SEALs.
During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego , as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery , SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of twos, with the coffin moving up the center.
As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero. This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see every day.
Since the media won't make this news, I choose to make it news by forwarding it onto you guys. I am proud of our military and the men and women who serve in it. They represent the highest and finest values of this country."

Embedded in the e-mail were very moving pictures of Petty Officer Monsoor's coffin adorned with the gold Trident pins. My problem with this e-mail was the fact that this very story was covered by the media.

CNN: http://http//www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/08/seal.medal/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
FOX: http://http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,376243,00.html
NPR: http://http//www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89424939
USA Today: http://http//www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-08-medal-honor_N.htm
Wash. Post: http://http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102330.html

That's not even all of the links I could have provided.

Let me be clear. It's not that I don't want my friends to forward things to me, just use a bit of common sense before you add me to the list and hit "send". I think everyone's time is valuable, if only to themselves, and I'm not going to waste it by sending an e-mail that is unfounded or bogus.

Enough ranting! I'm not directing this at anyone sepcific. Chances are, if you forward lots of stuff to me, you don't even realize this blog exists.....it would require effort to locate it and read it! Snap!