This last one is scary.. Facebook Urban Legend

Facebook is going to charge

"FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE... PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO...IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY."

Rumors that Facebook would start charging users for the privilege of sharing baby photos and "poking" people they sat next to in the second grade have circulated for the past couple years. Recently the announcement that Facebook would partner with Skype to offer video chat reignited rumors that the house that Mark Zuckerberg (and a bunch of other dudes) built would start charging for video and other services.


Ironically this rumor often takes the form of a status update Facebook users are told to repost or a "Stop Facebook From Charging" Facebook group. Back in 2009, a Facebook group called "We are against paying $4.99 for Facebook" turned out to be a (big shock) virus-spreading hoax. As a spokesperson for Facebook recently told The Huffington Post, "Facebook is free and always will be." (The price of a free Facebook is eternal vigilance when it comes to your privacy settings, however.) Let this be a lesson to all those who think that the way to show your disapproval for a Facebook policy is to spend more time on Facebook.

Another cautionary tale...

During the late evening hours, a young couple parks at an out-of-town or otherwise very secluded lovers' lane, to do what teen couples like to do in private. A location in a wooded area is selected so that the trees can afford the best assurance of privacy. They manage to park near a nice, big tree with grand leaves branching out overhead, making their park location seem all the more secluded and cozy.

After making out for a time, the couple realize that it is time to head home but the car won't start. The boy checks the gas gauge and notes that the indicator needle is quite decidedly toward the low end of the scale, so he determines that he will have to go for a walk and get some gas. Since his girlfriend is either too feminine and frail or too scared to accompany him, she is told to stay in the locked car until he returns with fuel.

The girlfriend waits quite some time, all the while, calculating how long it should take for her boyfriend to retrieve some gasoline at a nearby gas station they passed on their way to their make-out spot. At around the time she begins to worry, thinking that too much time has passed and that her boyfriend surely shouldn't be taking so long to return, she hears a light but strange tap-scratch-tapping sound on the roof of the car. She peers out the windows but still doesn't see her boyfriend returning, and assumes that the annoying tapping sound must be some tree branches blown to tap and scrape against the roof of the car. A lot of time has passed since her boyfriend departed and she's starting to get quite frightened that something bad has happened to him.

As her worry heightens, she spends a very fretful, fitful time in the locked car, wondering what troubles her boyfriend might have encountered to keep him from returning with gasoline within an hour or two. Finally, her exhausted nerves wear her down, along with the annoying noise of the branches playing across the rooftop, and she falls asleep for a little while. As daybreak is dawning, she starts awake, hearing footsteps approach the car, and expects it is her boyfriend, finally back with the gas! She looks up, shocked to see the local sheriff, instead. He is walking toward the car, is motioning for her to step out of the car. He also warns, very distinctly, "Get out, come with me and do not look back at the car - I repeat - do not look back at the car."
 
She opens the car door and allows the sheriff to lead her away from the car and toward his own, however, once she is seated in the sheriff's car, she immediately turns her head to look back...
and sees...her boyfriend, dead, hanging upside down directly over the roof of the car, suspended from the branch of a tree. His throat is slit, blood dripping, and his fingertips just barely touch the roof of the car.

Don't have sex!
"The Boyfriend's Death" or "The Dead Boyfriend" urban legend had not been proven to be a 'story' based on true events. It is true that some 'Lovers Lane' murders have occurred in various North American, British and other locations, but it is commonly accepted that this urban legend was in full circulation aside from or independent of any "lovers lane" murders that have occurred in North America or Britain.
In short, this tale would likely exist regardless of coincidental real-life lover's lane happenings because the tale is 'cautionary' in nature.
It is a by-product of parental concerns about their sons and daughters growing up, having sex, gaining independence, fending (or not fending) for themselves in the world.
Although it also cannot be proven that absolutely no aspects of the tale derived from any real-life points at all, those who would proclaim that the story is based in 'truth' of a real-life boyfriend murder are likely just good tale-tellers, and no particular, sizable incident that I've ever been able to find is linked as the basis for this story.

A Lesson for the Babysitter..

No one is exactly sure when it originated, but is believed to have started in the 1960's. Teenagers weren't as responsible as they are now so babysitting was a big deal then. The story was to show that the teenager wasn't only responsible for herself but the children too and she failed to prove herself. She was more concerned about herself to even try to save the children. Watching television could have also been a reason she hadn't known anyone had broken in because she was too absorbed in it. So not only can you use this to scare your children, you can scare your own babysitter into doing their job! There are many ways you can analyze this urban legend.

As the legend goes, a teenage girl is hired by a young couple to babysit their children for the first time. The couple leaves to go to a dinner party. The teenager is to watch the children in a large, somewhat, isolated house. The couple does not expect to be back until late.

In some variations the children are already in bed when she gets there. She is mostly their only so they won't be alone in the house. Another variation is that the children are awake when she arrives. They watch TV until their bedtime and she puts them to sleep.

As the night progresses the teenager continues to watch television, dozing off occasionally. She is jerked completely awake once the phone rings. She answers it only to hear one of two things; heavy breathing and creepy laughter. He says one thing to her that also varies in different stories. The man either tells her that he is coming for her or that he is upstairs with the children. Of course the teenager is frightened but she hangs the phone up and dismisses the phone call as a prank call.


After a short while the phone rings again. He repeats what he says earlier, scaring the girl further. She finally decides to call the police. They tell her it's probably nothing to worry about but they will try to trace the call anyway. They tell her that if he calls again to keep him on the line as long as possible. She is a bit unnerved as she sits back on the couch. She was one hundred percent awake now.

Once again the mystery guy calls her. Instead of hanging up she tries to keep him on the line. She tries to get answers out of him but he eventually hangs up on her. Finally something pops into her head and tells her it would probably be a good idea to check on the children.


As she heads to the stairs the phone once again rings. She answers, expecting the heavy breathing but instead hears the voice of a frantic officer.

"Get out of the house. The man is inside the house. Leave immediately!"

Terrified the girl quickly flees the house. The police arrive not that long after. The man had gotten away. They found the children murdered in their beds. A bloody axe was found by an open window. If the teenager had went to check on the kids she would have been killed as well.

The fact that the man was able to get away is never missed. He is free to terrorize other people which is why this urban legend is so creepy. They never caught him. Who knows who his next victim could be...

The Creepy Clown Staute

I am not too sure how true this one is, but I did some research, and the end always changes a bit.  Well first I'm going to give you the story about the creepy clown statue.

One night a couple decided that they could use a break so they made plans to go out for dinner. They hired a babysitter that a friend of theirs had suggested. Once the teenager arrives the father requests that after she puts their children to sleep that she goes into their bedroom and watch some TV. They had recently just moved into their home so a lot of the house had yet to have been completed. He doesn't want her to wander around the house where she could knock stuff over.

Soon the parents leave and she puts the kids to sleep. She does as the father says and watches TV in their bedroom, or at least she tries. She is too disturbed by the clown statue to focus. Eventually, she gets too creeped out by the statue and calls the father.


"Hey. Sorry to bother you but do you think it would be okay if I covered the clown stature. It is really freaking me out."

There was a moment of silence,"Grab the kids and get out of the house now. Go to the neighbors. We will be there soon."

"What? Why?"

"Please just go."

She agreed and gathered the kids. They waited at the neighbors for a few minutes before the police and the parents arrived. They explained to her that they did not own a clown statue. The children had talked about a clown watching them sleep but they thought they were just having bad dreams.

The police capture the clown who was really a mentally unstable midget. He had been living in their house for awhile. Since it was so large he was able to sneak around without being seen. The midget had been in the parent's room and couldn't leave without the babysitter seeing so he froze and pretended to be a statue.

So this story is so creepy! This story happened in California, but everywhere I have found this story it has been proven as a fake story! Again, this story was made up to make children behave while their parents are away, and while they are in the care of a babysitter.

La Llorona

"Mis hijooooos, mis hijoooooos!" the ghostly voice travels through the night sky under the full moon, bringing terror into the hearts of children across Mexico. The cry of "my children, my children" is the lament of "La Llorona" or "The Crying Woman", an ancient tale famous in Mexico and Latin America, told for centuries in a myriad of variations. As we approach the end of October and the "Day of the Dead" and Halloween, it seems an appropriately scary story to share.

Habia una vez...ahem...Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful woman named Maria living in a small town in Mexico. She was beautiful, but she was also arrogant, and was determined not to marry a man from the pueblo, but a man of stature, good looks and wealth. One day a handsome wanderer arrived in the town and Maria set her mind to making him her husband. She used her feminine wiles, knowing that in ignoring the man she would make him hers. The man fell for Maria and asked her to be his, they married and she bore him two children. The man eventually returned to his wandering ways, rejecting Maria and leaving town. Maria became distraught and blaming the children for the loss of her husband, she tossed them into the river to their death. Upon seeing what she had done and realizing her mistake, Maria threw herself in the river after them. After that day, the villagers would hear her cries on the nights of the full moon, "my childreeeeen, my childreeeeeen" as the ghost of Maria searched for the souls of her lost niños.


The story has been told to children for centuries, as a warning for them to behave or "La Llorona will come to take you". Movies have been made of the story, plays are performed every year for the "Day of the Dead" and there is a famous song by Chavela Vargas, "La Llorona", about a heart-broken person begging the Crying Woman to take them to the river. This month a new animated movie, "La Leyenda de La Llorona" was released in Mexico, an adventure story set in Xochimilco following the adventures of children seeking the Crying Woman. I was delighted to take my son to the theater and see it full of families, a thrill to see support for a Mexican-made movie (and a testament to the popularity of the story). This is a vital piece of Mexican culture.

Japanese Urban Legend

The story is this, in Japan shortly before a teenage girl committed suicide, she drew this picture, scanned it and posted it online. In Korea this story broke out and it spread like wildfire. There are various posts around in Korean forums that say that the viewer gets drawn to the girls blue eyes, they say they can detect a hint of wraith and sadness within the eyes. Maybe the girl had died with so much sadness and anger that her spirit haunts the image, or maybe the image provoke sadness, similar to the song ‘Gloomy Sunday’.
The freaky bit is this, they say it is hard for a person to stare into the girls eyes for longer than 5 minutes, there are reports that some people have taken their own lives after doing so. People say the picture changes, as you view it there is a hint of a growing taunting smirk appearing on the girls lips or a dark ring grows around the girl or her eyes.

Can you stare into her eyes for more than five minutes?

Wedding superstitions!

A lot of these "superstitions" originated in other cultures for reasons having nothing to do with good or bad fortune.
"Seeing a bride before the wedding" ? Well, in countries and cultures where marriages were arranged, the bride and groom may not meet before the wedding.  White dresses have nothing to do with purity and everything to do with proving your family is wealthy enough to buy you a dress that's only used one time. 


During the "marriage by capture" era, close friends of the groom-to-be assisted him when he kidnapped the bride from her family. The first ushers and best men were more like a small army, fighting off the brides angry relatives as the groom rode away with her.

 

Bridesmaids and maids of honor became more common when weddings were planned. For several days before the marriage, a senior maid attended to the bride-to-be. This maid or matron of honor, as we know her today, ensured that the bridal wreath was made and helped the bride get dressed. All bridesmaids helped the bride decorate for the wedding feast.

For a long time, bridesmaids wore dresses much like the bride's gown, while ushers dressed in clothing that was similar to the groom's attire. This tradition began for protection against evil rather than for uniformity; if evil spirits or jealous suitors attempted to harm the newlyweds, they would be confused as to which two people were the bride and groom.

 

The wedding is one of life's primeval and surprisingly unchanged rites of passage. Nearly all of the customs we observe today are merely echoes of the past. Everything from the veil, rice, flowers, and old shoes, to the bridesmaids and processionals, at one time, bore a very specific and vitally significant meaning. Today, although the original substance is often lost, we incorporate old world customs into our weddings because they are traditional and ritualistic.

Old world marriage customs continue to thrive today, in diluted, disguised and often upgraded forms. Customs we memorialize today were once "brand new" ideas. Although historical accuracy is hard to achieve, the historical weight attached to old world wedding customs and traditions is immense. While reading through these pages, feel free to use, reinterpret, or omit them in your own wedding.

Remember, as you plan for your wedding, to create new family traditions and customs to be handed down to your children and their children. Just think, maybe someday, your "new custom" will be as unique and exciting as these presented here.

 

All wedding and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. The vein in this finger was once believed by ancient Romans to go directly to the heart. Pretty obvious symbolism there.