When in doubt, check it out

On Tuesday (July 11) a friend from high school forwarded one of those things you read and say, “That doesn’t seem right” and you search and find out you are correct.

And you wonder: “Why do people not check these things before sending them?”

Yesterday’s receipt was not the first outright false forward from that friend.

The most egregious was entitled “Army dog wins Congressional Medal of Honor.” If you want an example of internet stupid, search for that.

Why do people make up that stuff? What is it in their minds that leads to complete fabrication?

Yesterday’s forward was not so much fabrication as someone’s willingness to believe something is true because he or she wants it to be true.

Yesterday’s forward had to do with “Muslim store owners” in Bogalusa, La., telling a soldier “We don’t serve your kind.”

Right away don’t you say, “Wait a minute. That doesn’t sound true”?

Most of the forward was a video shot across the street from the convenience store. There were more than a dozen cars and pickups, some people carrying signs, and a voice-over by a man who had not bothered to investigate, but just went with the crowd. The narrator called the store owners “ragheads,” and then said, “That’s right, I said ‘raghead,’” as though he had performed a deed of great courage.

I’m not going into all the details of the story. You can search “muslim store owners deny service to soldier” and get enough information.

One fact that should have ended the demonstration by patriotic Americans: The store owners are Indian. Not Pakistani or Jordanian or Yemini – Indian. If not familiar with Indian-Pakistani blood-letting, search “1947 indian partition” or “1972 indian-pakistani war.”

A little bit of checking goes a long way.