Note: If you link to this, quote the whole article. If you want to link to the amusing and quite probably made up out of some idiot's head quote, then find yourself another link.
I got in on the ground floor this time. I'm a witness to the Birth of an Urban Legend.
The following was sent to me via email:
On May 1st, as a result of the Mexican boycott, national retailers reported 4.2% lower sales for the day, with a 67.8% reduction in shoplifting.
I decided to search for the source of this rather astounding, and improbably exact, quote.
First, let's browse all of the Newspapers in the world, or at least those with a significant web presence:
Your search - 67.8% reduction in shoplifting - did not match any documents.
OK, Snopes.com:
Sorry, no matches were found containing 67.8% reduction in shoplifting.
Nope, nada. Well, let's try Google its own self:
6 hits on the first page. All of which look suspiciously similar.
Well, if it looks like an Urban Legend, and it walks like an Urban Legend, and it talks like an Urban Legend, it's probably a duck. But let's look just a little harder:
Google Groups, aka the gathering formerly known as Usenet: 9 hits. Each and every one the same.
Finally, let's do a Google Blog search: 11 hits, including a brave individual who tells us how he found this quote:
According to one source, On May 1st (the Pro-Illegal-Alien Protest Date) National retailers reported 4.2% lower sales for the day, with a 67.8% reduction in shoplifting.
That's right, folks, we have a source.
ONE
A highly reliable source.
As far as I know, he's never been contradicted.
So, of course, this must be true.
Hope none of you participating in this birth get strech marks.
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