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Melvin's blog
Nshima & Curry
Melvin's Blog
Nshima & Curry
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WE COULD ALL USE MORE LOVE
I was excited the other day. Elated, ecstatic,
enraptured and all the other e-words. I
received an e-mail from a woman Ive been
courting fruitlessly for several months. Shes
been resisting my advances, but as soon as
I read the subject line of her e-mail, I knew
my persistence was finally going to pay off in
a big way. The subject line read, "ILOVEYOU."
Yes, yes, yes! Shes finally returning my love,
I thought. And shes declaring her feelings in
all capital letters, too! That means shes
really serious. Even before I read her full
message, I was ready to dash off an e-mail
to her, screaming, "ILOVEYOUTOOBABE!"
I wanted to send e-mails to all my friends,
saying, "I told you so. I knew shed come
around. I knew she wouldnt wait until Im the
last man on Earth."
But when I opened her e-mail, I was
crushed. Her "love letter" to me was an
attachment carrying a computer virus. It was
infecting my computer and deleting some of
my files. And even more distressing, it was
sending the very same "ILOVEYOU"
message to everyone in my address book,
including a number of MEN. Talk about a
dangerous virus! I had to act quickly. I didnt
want people to get the wrong idea about
me. I know how rumors get started. One day
Im telling a bunch of men I love them, the
next day Im receiving flowers from George
Michael. Before I know it, Dr. Laura is telling
everyone Im a biological error. Pretty soon,
my mother and Dr. Laura are duking it out,
setting off World War III. And Im hiding in a
closet with Donato Dalrymple, the fisherman.
But what could I do? I thought about calling
everyone in my address book and warning
them about this destructive virus: "If you get
a message from me that says I love you,
delete it immediately. I dont love you. At
least not in that way not in all capital
letters. Not in the way that Oprah loves
Steadman, Kathie Lee loves Frank, or
Donald Trump loves himself."
But I didnt know the phone numbers of
everyone in my address book. Some were
just strangers who had e-mailed me a joke,
wise saying or some other harmless
message. And here I was, hardly knowing
them, but still telling them, "ILOVEYOU."
What would they think?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: "Hey
Maria, check zis out. Zis Durai guy is zaying
zat he loves me. Vat a freak. He muz be
very desperate. Doesnt he know zat Im ze
terminator? Ill hit him zo hard, he'll start
speaking like me."
BILL CLINTON: "Wow, look at this. I must
be more popular than the polls show. Ive
received more than 1,000 ILOVEYOU
messages today, even one from Hillary.
The Republicans -- Bob Dole, John McCain,
George W. Bush -- they all love me. I
wonder what they want. I dont care what
they say, Elian is going back to Cuba."
Youve probably guessed that I didnt really
receive the infamous "ILOVEYOU" e-mail,
which caused billions of dollars in damage
worldwide. But if I had, I would have opened
the attachment. Like thousands of people
who fell victim to the love bug, I would have
been pleased -- for at least a few seconds --
that someone loves me. Even if that
someone was a man.
Its too bad that it took a virus creator to get
so many people to say, "ILOVEYOU."
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