Forward this e-mail and rainbows will appear

The Setting: I just received another one of those hoax e-mails. In related news, I'm really starting to enjoy looking up stories on Snopes.com

The latest e-mail a friend sent me is this story about a girl who had been badly burned in a fire at a Wal-Mart. At the end of the sad story, the reader is told to forward the e-mail because every time you do, Yahoo will donate $2 to the family's hospital bill. Depending on who started the e-mail chain, you can replace Yahoo with AOL, MySpace, whatever. It's not true in any case.

About three weeks ago, I received an e-mail about how dialing #77 on your cell phone gives you direct access to a dispatcher who can verify state trooper information. That way, you don't have to take the chance that the cop who's attempting to get you to pull your car over is really an ax murderer who's ready to take a swing at you. According to Snopes, there are actually some states in which dialing #77 on your cell phone will immediately connect you with that state's highway patrol, but it doesn't work in most states.