Urban Legends - Truth, Lies and Turklebaum A well-filled party in a German suburb: dancing teenagers, drinking and talking. A young girl just told that they will soon go to her parents in Sarajevo, as a teenager in the conversation turns on and vigorously advised against the trip to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
know "you, I've heard that this (...)", begins his story by a man who was also in Sarajevo, and this should repent for the rest of his life. In a bar he had been drugged and woke up a little later in a filthy street. How frightened he realized he had been removed a kidney - the organ mafia, it is said, have put behind this act. Within minutes he had been surgically removed, the essential as well as expensive organ.
"That's complete nonsense!" Replies the girl loves to travel, after which another party guest gives its opinion. "No, it's really true that history. Have I heard from the cousin of my girlfriend. Their stepfather happened to be the (...)", he said with conviction.
to these and similar ways of spreading modern showers marches - often called "Urban Legends" (or urban legends), "myths mouldering", "urban legends" or "moving story" means. They are mostly short stories, anecdotes and "supposedly true events", the disclosure of oral narratives, emails, SMS and even the mainstream media is guaranteed. An extremely successful meme concept, as it would describe the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. is
To the veracity of the stories about metal sling murderer on the vehicle rear seat, the crocodile in the sewer or the spiders under the skin It usually - but not always - not looking good. Nevertheless, the English technical term for these stories indicates, FOAF stories (Friend of a Friend - friend of a friend) that, in most cases they are a friend of a friend or even a more or less distant relatives or acquaintances have happened.
The range of stories is very broad, ranging from trivial to funny up to the cruel disgust story that takes your nightly sleep. Nevertheless, in the urban legends processed repeatedly clear motives, and even teaching: Thus the fear of the unknown, fear of illness and rapid death of a recurring theme. Also advise the stories always caution to be careful, not to go alien and his fellow man not to lose sight of.
A prime example of the latter is the story of George
Turklebaum , which also one of the largest urban legends: George Turklebaum was an employee at a New York editorial office. For more than 30 years, he had corrected daily books, documents and articles. He was always the first to come into the office and the last one left. On a Monday George had suffered a heart attack and died without any of his 23 colleagues noticed this. Only five days later a cleaning lady had discovered that the man in the chair was no longer alive.
This curious as well as sad story had made it known to the media. Apart from newspapers like the Birmingham Sunday Mercury that is also had the British Times, the Daily Mail, the Guardian made
and even the BBC
taken up the message and at face value. Turklebaum a George, who died unnoticed in a New York office, but it had never existed. Nevertheless, the story is do not get dead. She repeatedly circulated at parties, even if George's name is not the place of death each time is different.
also not true are the stories of
H IV-infected syringes in movie theater seats, the nice Arab, a woman before 11 September warned burgers or earthworms in the McDonalds. And they are still widely used and continue to migrate from mouth to mouth and were now spending spree even the sizes of the entertainment industry as an inspiration for TV's program. Even the team of investigators from the U.S. hit series CSI, it had something to do with an urban-legendary case: A dead
diver in a tree should put Grissom and the rest of the cool forensic experts to the test.
But what is often forgotten and you: Not all urban legends are the same lies. In some quite put a little spark and flame in a matter of even a whole truth. Recently, a message went through the world media, were actually to be incredibly is to be really happening, "
dead wakes up on the dissecting table " reported ntv and reported a man declared dead in Venezuela, who woke up when the coroner began the autopsy.
also has a kernel of truth - at least since December 2006 - the story of the snake in the toilet. Peter Phillips, an Australian rangers can confirm it! Finally
he had the beast from the drainage system of a building exempt .
matter if only a few of the urban legends arise from a true event, they are nonetheless fascinating. Perhaps it is also just not knowing this, if something of a FOAF story turn is, not knowing whether it is actually a motorcycle driver's head was abgesäbelt when he tried to overtake a truck, the metal plates was loaded. Shudder, disgust or amuse us to be curious stories in any case, you hear from a friend of a friend, to whom this should have happened indeed.