Three variants in one
The latest stage (as of mid-2000) in the evolution of the knockout perfume legend is represented by this omnibus version which includes a brand new scenario which supposedly took place at a gas station in Des Moines, Iowa, plus two variants we've already seen:
Conclusion: The Story's the Thing
I received this email from a friend!I was pumping gas at the Texaco station at Merle Hay and Douglas approximately a week and a half ago and a young girl walked up to me and asked if I'd like to sample some perfume scents. She said that they had all the latest fragrances. I looked over at her car which was a turquoise sub-compact and her boyfriend (?) was rooting through the trunk. I declined, saying that I had to get back to work. She said again that they had all the latest scents and it wouldn't take long. I again declined and went inside to pay for my gas. She said, "Thanks anyway", and went back to her car. When I pulled out, the two were just sitting there in the car. She smiled and waved. I thought it was an odd thing at the time, but the note below really brings it home that it could have been part of this indeed frightening scenario. I don't know WHAT they had in mind, but I can verify that this happened to me here in Des Moines. Please be careful,ladies.
Please forward this to women who are close to you (mainly in the Des Moines area). Some of you got this email (see below) some weeks ago like me. I just wanted pass along that I was approached yesterday afternoon at around 3:30 p.m. in the Walmart parking lot at Forest Drive by 2 males asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. I didn't stop to answer them and kept walking toward the store. At the same time I remembered this email. The men continued to stand between parked cars-I guess to wait on someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going toward them, pointed at them and told her what they might ask and NOT to let them get near her. When that happened, the men and a lady (I don't know where she came from!) started walking the other way toward their car parked in far corner of the parking lot. I thank Jane Shirey for passing this along-it might have saved me from a robbery. I'm passing this along to you'all so you can warn the women in your life to watch out for this... Cathy
I WAS SENT AN E-MAIL AT WORK ABOUT SOMEONE WALKING UP TO YOU AT MALLS IN OR PARKING LOTS AND ASKING YOU TO SNIFF PERFUME THEY ARE SELLING AT A CHEAP PRICE. THIS ISN'T REALLY PERFUME BUT ETHER, AND YOU WILL PASS OUT AND THEY TAKE YOUR WALLET AND ALL YOUR VALUABLES. THIS IS NOT A PRANK E-MAIL, THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE I WAS STOPPED IN GOVERNORS SQUARE PARKING LOT TODAY. A MAROON CAR PULLED UP TO ME WITH TWO FEMALES. THE FEMALE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW AND ASKED ME IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SNIFFING SOME PERFUME THEY WERE SELLING. I REMEMBERED THE E-MAIL I JUST RECEIVED YESTERDAY, AND SAID NO. SHE ASKED ME A SECOND TIME, KEPT ON WALKING SAID NO ONCE AGAIN AND THEY PULLED OFF. IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL, I VERY WELL MAY HAVE DONE IT. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND TELL THEM TO BEWARE. THIS IS TRUE!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL I GOT YESTERDAY, I COULD VERY WELL MAY HAVE BEEN A VICTIM. (AIN'T GOD GOOD?) REMEMBER TO PASS THIS ON!!!!!
In true folkloric fashion, not one of the anecdotes you've just read is supported by anything more than hearsay — anonymous hearsay, at that. It doesn't necessarily follow that every word is therefore false, but we have very good reason to be skeptical.
The message folks seem to be conveying by amplifying and spreading this urban legend is familiar, and really amounts to nothing more plain old common sense: "Be careful out there." That's a good message and a wise policy, but we must question whether repeating frightful stories which, as far as we know, have little or no basis in fact is the best way of getting it across.
Urban legends often take the form of cautionary tales, but it's a mistake to assume that they actually function as such. They don't really exist for that purpose, nor does their apparent cautionary function account for why they're so popular. Urban legends thrive, simply, because they're good stories. To the extent that they serve any social purpose at all, it is probably just catharsis — a belly laugh when we're blue or a bone-chilling fright to release tension, plus the all-too-human pleasure to be had in provoking these same reactions in others.
In days gone by, people would sit around for hours in the glow of a campfire, scaring the pants off one another with horror stories for no other reason than that they enjoyed it. Human nature hasn't changed. We still enjoy it, only now we do it by the glow of a computer screen instead of a fire.
