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I started paying attention to urban rumor when the story went like wildfire about the woman trying to dry her poodle in the microwave. We heard it in east Texas while on the way to St. Louis. By the time we got to Webster Groves, sure enough, somebody's sister's cousin's next door neighbor tried to dry her dog in the microwave.
Then the one about a little white boy going to the restroom at the drive in movie and having his privates cut off by some big black kids. These things get really nasty bad, too.
I started buying books about urban rumor. It has been around since humans could communicate.
Here we have had the "Scary Clown" seen lurking around the High School, neighborhood parks, etc ...
The last one actually turned out to be valid but I never heard what happened to the guy in the clown suit, despite his identity being apparently known by the Police. They arrested a guy who saw the clown & beat him up & I presume you have to give your name to file charges.
I feel like snatching a kid right out of a mom's grasp & in front of cameras would not be the go-to method for stranger abductions but I wouldn't have thought climbing in a window when parents are asleep was viable either & that has happened.
The evil foster mom has pretty much supplanted the wicked stepmother in mythology. In the foster system, both child and elder abuse is pretty common, so the stories you hear there are based at least in some fact.
Most people lack any capability for critical thought. Urban legends take advantage of that. So does Fox News.
Yes, 'average' intelligence is a fairly low bar, it's why we have religions, alien/UFO stories, Bigfoot, people who think communism is a Good Thing, people who buy 'pet rocks', people who get sucked into computer scams and penny stock scams and all manner of other BS.
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