RUMORS

Rumors go around every single day and we always hear them whether or not we are aware that we hear them. Recently, a new rumor has been going around that carjackers are putting shirts around victims windshield wipers to lure them. The victim will see the shirt on their windshield, they will get out of their car to remove it, and that's when the carjacker will take their car or kidnap them or do whatever it is they want to do to the victim.

According to snopes.com, this rumor is proved to be false. Ashley Hardacre, a "victim" of this incident reported this happening to her one night when she got off from working the night shift. The City of Flint's police department reported that no other incidents like this have been recorded and that the shirt on Hardacre's windshield was placed there as a joke and had no connection to crime.




This type of rumor can be classified as a bogie rumor. According to Robert Knapp, a bogie rumor is derived from fears and anxieties (Behrens and Roesn pp. 497). I don't know about you, but if this incident was true, I would be scared! This rumor touches on basic anxieties because it makes you think that it might happen to you, so you continue to spread it in hope that it won't happen. It gives you fear that if it does happen, you might get raped or killed. This rumor fits the list of qualities that make a good rumor by Knapp because it heightens some of the elements and exaggerates some.

The rumor encourages DiFonzo's shared human sense-making by making it believable. Some parts of Hardacre's story doesn't match up; like when she says there were cars around her so she was uncomfortable getting out. But couldn't those cars just be the coworkers she walked out with? Everything else in the story seems to make sense and come together well. Most rumors that spread around are very believable with the information that is in the story. Remember, rumors are around us everyday, whether we are aware of them or not.