# Mundane changes to urban myths **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041 "2012-05-16T00:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/1 "2012-05-16T00:26:02Z")
A follow-up to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=649548) CS thread, which was about comic book origins. Wasn’t sure where to post this one. The morning after a one-night stand, a man walks into the bathroom and finds “YOU’RE A LOUSY LAY” written on the mirror in lipstick. He never sees the woman again. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/2 "2012-05-16T00:45:55Z")
A woman gets separated from her daughter, who has long, blond hair, in a department store. A few minutes later, she sees a person leaving the store with a child of about the same size and weight, but with short, badly-cut dark hair. It was a different kid. Hers was playing hide-and-seek in the clothing racks. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/3 "2012-05-16T00:56:17Z")
Did you hear about the woman who found dead bird parts in her KFC bucket? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/4 "2012-05-16T01:02:57Z")
There is documented evidence that human beings have actually walked on the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/5 "2012-05-16T01:29:14Z")
Barrack Obama was not born in the continental United States. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/6 "2012-05-16T01:33:05Z")
There are rats living in the sewers. A family vacationing in Mexico started feeding a small dog they found on the street. It got sick when they took it home as a souvenir. When the vet examined it, he said “Your chihuahua will be fine with some antibiotics.” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/7 "2012-05-16T01:34:40Z")
A woman was driving by herself in a remote area at night; she stopped at an old gas station to re-fuel her car. After she finished, the attendant seemed to be trying to get her attention, but something about the man made her nervous and she quickly drove off. A mile or so down the road, her “check engine” light came on; she pulled over, and realized the gas station attendant had been trying to let her know that she hadn’t put her gas cap back on properly. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/8 "2012-05-16T01:35:38Z")
Mitt Romney’s father was a Mexican. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/9 "2012-05-16T01:42:13Z")
Just the other day I drank a bottle of Coke. It tasted fine. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/10 "2012-05-16T01:45:25Z")
A friend of a good friend of mine was driving along a dark, deserted stretch of county road in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and picked up a young woman who was hitch hiking. She said she was just going up the road a few miles. Shortly, she signalled him to stop-- at a country cemetery. He pulled over, turned to say goodbye, but she had vanished. He drove on until he reached a gas station. After filling up he related the ghostly event to the guy at the counter, who told him, “Oh ya, that’d be Mary Yoder. Crazy. She likes to play tricks like that on gullible idiots.” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/11 "2012-05-16T01:46:03Z")
The child actor who played “Mikey” in the famous commercials for LIFE cereal (“Let’s get Mikey to try it–he hates everything.” “He likes it! Hey, Mikey!”) grew up to become an advertising-account manager for a New York radio station. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/12 "2012-05-16T01:48:09Z")
Did you hear about the woman who called the service department to complain that when she tried to dry her dog in the microwave, it wouldn’t fit? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/13 "2012-05-16T01:52:56Z")
A man once dumped his wife to run off with his secretary; he wrote back to his wife and asked her to sell his Porsche and send him the money, because he needed cash. She wrote back and told him to sell his own damn car. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/14 "2012-05-16T01:57:17Z")
FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency, established during the Carter Administration and now part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) maintains teams of medical personnel as well as trucks outfitted with portable communications gear and electrical generators which can be deployed in the event of an emergency (such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack). Other FEMA teams are trained and equipped to rescue victims trapped in building collapses (such as might happen after an earthquake or a mine collapse). If you’re driving after dusk and see an oncoming car whose driver has forgotten to turn on his headlights, it’s considered courteous to quickly flash your highbeams or turn your own headlights off and then on again in order to let the other driver know of his oversight so he can correct it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/15 "2012-05-16T02:37:59Z")
And when they got back from their rendevous at a populer lover’s lane, he opened the car-door for her, and there was nothing amiss with the handle! ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/16 "2012-05-16T03:42:36Z")
There was a woman who bought a dress from a thrift store that smelled a bit funny. She returned it to the store the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/17 "2012-05-16T03:43:43Z")
A small white woman got on an elevator with a big black man and a pit bull at the back. She nervously avoided eye contact and stayed at the front. The door closed and silently the elevator started going down. “Sit!” a voice from behind her suddenly commanded. The woman spun around. “Say, you’re Denzel Washington. I recognize your voice.” “That’s right, ma’am.” She got his autograph and a good story to tell her friends, who told other friends, who told other friends–and eventually it had her marrying Denzel and living happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/18 "2012-05-16T03:45:28Z")
Two kids turned off the light in the bathroom and chanted “Bloody Mary” three times while looking into the mirror. A woman jumped out of their shower and scared them half to death! Their mom is such a trickster. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/19 "2012-05-16T03:49:08Z")
I got an email telling me that if I did not forward it to thirty other people, a child’s ghost would appear in my ceiling and kill me tonight. I deleted the email and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up and watched some TV. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041/20 "2012-05-16T04:13:33Z")
I knew a guy whose college roommate committed suicide. He was quite shaken, but with a little counselling, and a different dorm room, managed to finish the semester, and write his exams. He ended up with a 2.5 GPA–a little less than he might have done otherwise, but his courses that semester were rather difficult. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-changes-to-urban-myths/622041.md?page=2)