9/11-related contemporary legends

Given the tremendous amount of free-floating anxiety and uncertainty in the U.S. after the attacks, it was not surprising that it didn't take long for legends warning of other potential dangers started appearing within a month or so. The three legends below are "variations on a theme": the central plot of each involves a young woman having the "luck" to be warned of an impending attack by an Afghani man (in the first version" and "a man of Middle Eastern descent" in the second.

The notable differences are in location: the first version below is the "U. S." variant, in which the "warnee" is told to stay away from that most quintessential of American locales (especially in contemporary legendry), the mall--all malls, in fact. And the date in question is Halloween, a holiday associated with mayhem, danger, and (in some people's minds) the devil. In the British version below it, the setting is more specific ("London"), though the date is less specific ("Thursday"--presumably October 11th, given the October 10th date below, but no numerical date is specified). The third version, at the bottom of the page, is also from the U. K., and while the setting is also London, the date is more specific (October 15th--a Monday, not a Thursday).

It's intriguing that variants of this legend would be circulating in the U. K. at all, given that the attacks happened in the U. S. This illustrates the kind of fear the attacks themselves, and the reprisal following them, generated. While it's impossible to "diagnose" why the legends began to appear when they did (is there a "natural" gestation period for such things? or are other factors at work?), a couple of contextual factors that seem significant here are that the U. S. bombing of Afghanistan had begun in early October, and Great Britain had poised itself as a very visible ally of and participant in the U. S. action from the very start of the war. London is also an all-too realistic setting for such a legend, given the numerous IRA bombings that have taken place there.

These legends are, in many ways, the flip side of the numerology messages elsewhere in this section. Whereas those messages attempt to scare us into thinking that, had we been observant enough, we would have seen the "signs" of the impending attacks, and would therefore have been able to prevent them, these legends complete that cycle by "reassuring" us (in their own threatening way) that we won't be so ignorant in the future: when presented with a warning, we'll heed it, and thus prevent further tragedy. However, there's an element of serendipity present in both that leaves the story open-ended: if the American woman didn't happen to be dating an Afghani man, if the woman in Hyde Park or the "Norfolk Boys" hadn't been so helpful, no one could have done anything to protect others. In the British versions, however, there's a clear "reward" for doing the right thing.

Both the numerology message and this legend cycle speak to the incredulity and powerlessness people felt after the attacks, and both try to help us regain a sense of control over the uncontrollable. And of course, depressingly, both also are xenophobic in their implication that one should especially fear and yet heed "Middle Eastern men" bearing gifts...or warnings. Still, as John's message to Lisa asking her to forward this to me indicates, perhaps people were more skeptical than we might imagine; John clearly labels this a "good urban legend."

From: Lisa Zimmerman
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 21:14:29 EDT
Subject: Fwd: NO Malls on 10/31
To: rvhatha@bentley.unco.edu

Dear Rose,
Here's something John wanted me to send to you.
Over the clouded fields,
Lisa

****************

From: John Zimmerman
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 10:45:24 EDT
Subject: Fwd: NO Malls on 10/31
To: Lisa Zimmerman

for rosemary-- good urban legend

[Note: Earliest date of circulation in deleted header was October 9, 2001. A comment right before the text of the actual message reads, "This comes from a trusted source. Do with it what you will. K"]

Hi All -

I think you all know that I don't send hoaxes and don't do the reactionary thing and send out anything that crosses my path. This one, however, is a
friend of a friend and I've given it enough credibility in my mind that I'm writing it up and sending it out to all of you.

My friend's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a month ago. She had a date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was
understandably upset and went to his home to find it completely emptied.

On 9/10, she received a letter from her boyfriend explaining that he wished he could tell her why he had left and that he was sorry it had to be like that.

The part worth mentioning is that he BEGGED her not to get on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and to not to go any malls on Halloween. As soon as everything
happened on the 11th, she called the FBI and has since turned over the letter.

This is not an email that I've received and decided to pass on. This came from a phone conversation with a long-time friend of mine last I may be wrong, and I hope I am. However, with one of his warnings being correct and devastating, I'm not willing to take the chance on the second and wanted to make sure that people I cared about had the same information that I did.

Laura Katsis

l

Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 08:57:22 -0400
From: Bill Ellis
Subject: urban legends appearing
To: NEWFOLK@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU

And another, a UK localization of the American item with some interesting rhetorical moments. (Notice especially the debate between "this is a hoax; I hate being made part of it" and "I got this from a reliable source; I'd feel bad if it were true and I didn't tell you")

----- Original Message -----

From: unique
To: Undisclosed-Recipient
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 7:32 PM
Subject: Fw: PLEASE READ THIS AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS.

Joan Lipkin-Edwards had to send this in case.

PLEASE READ THIS AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS. Please don't reply. This is being sent to people in my address book. If you receive this more than once - sorry. I got it from a fairly reliable source, but I'm not responsible....'

I cannot express how much I dislike writing this email. This was told to me by a close friend who knows the lady concerned. If it were not for the close association I would not believe it and would not pass this on. It is ONLY because of this that I have a moral responsibility to inform you. Please read this story, make your own decisions and if you forward this, mark it as urgent. Again, I am sorry to have to write to you like this.

My friend's girlfriend's friend was walking in Hyde Park. She noticed a man of Middle Eastern appearance getting up from a seat and walking away. As he got up he dropped his wallet. She picked up the wallet and ran after him and returned it to him. The man turned and thanked her, he then said "Thank you for doing this good deed, one good deed deserves another, stay out of London on Thursday". He walked away. The girl was very scared, he was soldier like and very serious in what he said. She immediately went to the police and was eventually given photos of known terrorists to look at. She identified the man from a photo.

Thursday is tomorrow. For my part, I pray this is a big hoax. I will be very happy if it is. In any event I am taking my family to the beach for the day. Why - because what if it were true and I did nothing, and ignored it and did not tell you. That is why. I will not run from every threat, this was too close an association to ignore, for me.

Be safe.

Gary Lester

[Norma Brewer, <nlbrewer@btinternet.com> who posted this to the FOLKLORE discussion list, adds:

The message has all the hallmarks of an urban myth.
1. There is no identified source- no address is given for 'Gary Lester'
2. 'My friend's girlfriend's friend ' is just the normal distance for a myth! [actually a bit farther than usual --BE]
3. No one would go ' to the beach' from London in October!
4. The ' good deed' is of the same trivial kind as in other myths.
5. The person apparently did not alert the press or the media in advance!

I am forwarding this whole email message to you,( minus the lengthy list of recipients). I actually received it from my sister, but I am a friend of the person who sent it to her. [Now that's the usual FOAF motif. --BE] ( I do not know the ' Gary Lester' who has signed the original message. I can forward the address of the person who sent it to me.

I have checked this with the snopes site, and find it corresponds with their Urban Legends Reference Page no. 4 Rumours of War (Stalk Tip) 'woman who performs kind act for a stranger is warned by him of upcoming terrorist attack' <http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/warning.htm>.]

For the record, a pretty full history of previous Halloween rumor-panics can be gleaned from my _Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults_ (Mississippi, 2001), pp. 199-219, Jeffrey Victor's "Satanic Cult Legends as Contemporary Legend," _Western Folklore_ 49 (1990): 51-82, Snopes's "Campus Halloween Massacre" website <http://www.snopes2.com/horrors/madmen/campus.htm>, and my " 'Safe' Spooks: New Halloween Traditions in Response to Sadism Legends," in _Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life_, ed. Jack Santino, 24-44 (Tennessee, 1994). To summarize:

1960s-present: Sadists planning to hand out razor-bladed apples and other deadly treats
1978-early 1990s: Satanic cults planning to abduct and sacrifice blonde, blue-eyed children
1968-1998: Serial killers (often disguised as "Little Bo Peep") planning to commit a massacre on college campuses

Interestingly, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Nettles, founders of the Heaven's Gate cult that committed mass suicide in 1997, did at one point did call themselves "Bo and Peep."

Bill Ellis
Associate Professor, English and American Studies
Home page: http://www.hn.psu.edu/faculty/bellis/

Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 12:08:34 -0230
From: Justin Partyka
Subject: Re: urban legends appearing
To: NEWFOLK@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU

Bill,

I was told a variant of this legend just a few days ago on the phone by my
mother who lives in the UK. I'll try and recount as best I can:
My mother told me that her hair dresser told her this story just last week.
The hair dressers brother who lives in Norfolk, UK was in London with two
friends. They were walking down Oxford Street and there was a man of Middle
Eastern description of about 45-55 years old walking ahead of them. This man
carried a bag and while he was walking along he was fiddling in the bag for
something.

As he was doing this he somehow dropped his wallet. The three "Norfolk boys"
picked the wallet up and caught up with the man to give it back to him. He
was extremely thankfull and said how with the current situation his family
had been victims of racism in the area in which they live in London.
In return the man warned the boys not to be in London on October 15th, he
said he couldn't tell them anymore but to tell their family and friends to
stay out of London on this day. He then just walked off into the crowds.
The boys were said to be extremely shook-up by this experience and returned
to rural Norfolk petrified that they had met a possible terroist.

----------------

That's the best I can do in reporting what was told to me. I didn't take
much notice at the time, but I thought those legend scholars out there might
like to know about my oral encounter of this one.

Justin Partyka