This is a HOAX CHain Email.
Read following article found via Google: www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/toiletspiders.html
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(11/25/2002) Urban legends often derive from jokes or other bits of
humor. As they circulate bits of "fact" are added while obvious
signs of the tale's fictional nature are removed or replaced. The
tale of the deadly toilet spider is a prime example of this type of
social engineering.
SAMPLE CHAIN LETTER TEXT
WARNING: From the University of North Florida
An article by Dr. Beverly Clark, in the Journal of the United
Medical Association (JUMA), the mystery behind a recent spate of
deaths has been solved. If you haven't already heard about it in
the news, here is what happened.
Three women in North Florida, turned up at hospitals over a 5-day
period, all with the same symptoms. Fever, chills, and
vomiting,followed by muscular collapse, paralysis, and finally,
death. There were no outward signs of trauma. Autopsy results
showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other,
and seemed to have nothing in common. It was discovered, however,
that they had all visited the same Restaurant (Olive Garden) within
days of their deaths. The health department descended on the
restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water,and air conditioning
were all inspected and tested, to no avail.
The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to
the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had
been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up
her check. She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had
used the restroom. That is when one toxicologist, remembering an
article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the
restroom, and lifted the toilet seat.
Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider
was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined
to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named
because of its reddened flesh color. This spider's venom is
extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They
live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the
right atmosphere.
Several days later a lawyer from Jacksonville showed up at a
hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that
he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia,
changing planes in Singapore, before returning home. He did not
visit (Olive Garden), while there. He did, as did all of the other
victims, have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his
right buttock.
Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated
in India. The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate
inspection of the toilets of all flights from India, and discovered
the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata) spider's nests on 4
different planes! It is now believed that these spiders can be
anywhere in the country.
So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check
for spiders. It can save your life! And please pass this on to
everyone you care about
Officer Sylvia Steele
University of North Florida,
END CHAIN LETTER TEXT
This one has a few things wrong with it: There is no such thing as
the Journal of the United Medical Association, nor is it likely
that any such article on this subject by "Dr. Beverly Clark" ever
appeared in any medical journal. Additionally, the Civil
Aeronautics Board disbanded in 1984! There have been no reliable
and valid accounts of such mysterious injuries or deaths at Olive
Garden or any other restaurant.
This urban legend has taken many forms over the years. As it
circulates, more detail is removed or replaced to make it seem more
believable and less like the joke it was probably intended to be.
This latest version is stripped of many of the "facts" that made
earlier versions easy to research and debunk. The earliest Internet
version (1999) I found links the mysterious deaths to "Big
Chappies" restaurant in "Blare" airport in Chicago (presumably an
abberation of "O'Hare") and identifies the spider as the
hilariously named "South American Blush Spider" or "arachnius
gluteus."
Omission of the fictitious airport and replacement of the equally
fake spider with a real one (Two-Striped Telamonia) in this
version, combined with a heady case of "False Attribution Syndrome"
have given this old hoax new life.
This is not a notice from the University of North Florida. The
school became unwillingly affiliated with this hoax when one of its
employees (presumably "Officer Sylvia Steele," though her title
seems incongruous with a position within the Science Department)
received and forwarded it, inadvertently adding her signature and
credibility to the message. Since it would seem that someone
representing a university science department would know things like
this, it makes sense to assume they are the source of it. Somewhere
along the way (either coincidentally or intentionally) references
to Chicago were replaced with "North Florida" to help the tale make
more sense.
"False Attribution Syndrome," as we at BreakTheChain.org like to
call this phenomenon, creates a lot of headache for employers and
is why most prohibit their employees from using their business
e-mail accounts for personal correspondence. Many employees have
been reprimanded or terminated after becoming associated with a
chain letter. This is just one of the very real dangers anyone
faces when they forward a warning like this one without checking it
out first. Break this chain!
