[QUOTE=Snopes]
Ostension is a folkloric term for the process of unwittingly acting out or mimicking the greater part (if not the entirety) of an urban legend that is already part of the body of lore.
[/quote]
Ever had an urban legend happen (or sorta happen) in real life? Post it here!
In high school, I took a class on the laws of keeping kosher. The teacher had some actual supervisor rabbis (mashgiachs) come in and talk about their jobs.
One mashgiach told us about how he once caught a company putting something in their kosher-for-Passover line that was not, in fact, kosher for Passover. The factory supervisor apologized, and sent a nice letter to the mashgiach about how he was so sorry and it was an accident and it would never happen again… The effect was rather spoiled by the sticky note stuck to the other side: “If the rabbi comes, deny everything.” Needless to say, that company lost their kosher certification.
Being an avid Snopes reader, my first thought was, "The bedbug letter!" Unfortunately, Snopes never responded to my email.
All right, it’s non-kosher food instead of bedbugs. It’s still essentially the same story.