All the posts about a comment on someone's drinking habits reminded me of something I read quite awhile back. The young wife of a small town, well-loved mayor was having lunch with her uncle, a very handsome man only a couple of years older than his niece. He was her favorite uncle, and they had been close since childhood. He had been out of the country for some time, so their reunion was especially joyful as they hugged each other and hung on each other's words. They had a lot to catch up on, so the two of them requested a quiet table at the restaurant. They shared a bottle of wine and a lot of laughs, hugs, and smiles. During the next week, the woman began receiving a lot of icy stares from her neighbors and friends. For some odd reason, they all shook their heads and then ignored her. She had no idea what was going on. Next a few weeks later, someone finally broke down and informed her that most people simply did not approve of her inappropriate behavior at all. The woman was completely confused and asked, "What behavior?" The reply: "Making a mockery of your marriage by openly having an affair." The woman was shocked because she had never had an affair! Just one person saw the uncle and the niece together and ASSUMED they were lovers, and soon tales spread about the affair, and they began to grow and the current word was that the man was only the most recent of a long line of affairs...... I have a feeling that the original comment was not uttered with any malicious intent or even thought of any harm. But, for some reason, I've unfortunately noticed that a lot of people today cannot separate fact from opinion. I recently read, "Who Stole Feminism?" by Christina Hoff Sommers. It's one of the scariest books I've ever read in my life. One person -- ONE person -- made a comment that "probably" more women were abused by their husbands and boyfriends on the day of the Super Bowl than on any other day of the year. Through the grapevine, the word "probably" was dropped, and now the statistic that more women were abused on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day was repeated so often that it became an accepted fact. Highly respected journalists were speculating on just what it was that made all those men so violent when they were watching football. I'm sure many Americans here remember that story from approximately a decade ago. Well......one person decided to track down the "statistic," though it wasnt an easy job. Each person simply heard it from another person and no one seemed to know where the original statistic was. Guess what? There is no statistic. There never was. One person's opinion was repeated so often that no one even questioned it anymore -- not just readers of newspapers and journals and watchers of television, but national journalists that we are supposed to trust to tell the truth. One little innocent feather flies in the wind and before you know it, the sky is filled with billowy clouds that rain down the "truth." And, of course you know who I am -- the illegimate daughter of Elvis Presley. No really, I swear it's true! Honestly! (Sorry, just couldn't end this without a mischievous touch) Jennifer _________________________________________________________________ Gift-shop online from the comfort of home at MSN Shopping! No crowds, free parking. http://shopping.msn.com