My sister-in-law

I just got this e-mail from my sister-in-law that was pretty cool:

This explains why I forward jokes to you.

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'

The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Soooo.

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get?

A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime

I have never been forwarded a joke, but I enjoyed this story. Thanks.

I've read that before and was touched by it, certainly.

But when it comes to one's inbox being flooded indiscriminately with everything that comes along, then one must put a stop to it.

Maybe I've been online too many years because not long ago, I asked that I not be sent any more forwards. I have read them ALL! I've read all the hoaxes that no one bothers to check out. Some people are guilible enough to believe ANYTHING!

Ok... climbing off my soapbox.

I rarely send a blast email along. I've begged one of my relatives to remove me from her list (she hasn't.) I especially abhor the ones that try and guilt you into not only returning the email to the sender with love but with some time constraint so that something evil won't happen, or for some blessing to supposedly occur at a certain hour and minute.

I enjoy good dialogue though, and have received many good jokes. The most recent I received was a newpaper clipping (I have no idea how old) titled "GET OUT OF THE CAR" it was hysterical, and I shared it IRL with those in the PT office, who also laughed hysterically. I guess all the cruddy ones are worth a gem that comes along once in a while.

I have a list of friends that I trust for emails, and I don't generally check out what they send me. If something isn't quite right, I let them know (ref their email.) I did this recently and the sender found some very interesting information from the site I had given as reference to rebuff what he'd sent! So we both garnered good from the experience.

Another one (type) that I dislike are those that are going to go to some company or alas the White House once it has 1000 signatures. Well, the White House and most companies have SIZE limits on the emails they will accept receipt for... so don't even bother with them, ok?

I'm glad that your SIL sent you the email and you gained good from it.
I personally have begged a former good friend of mine to add just a HI! to her forwards... nope. I blocked her.

Also, while I"m on my soap box here (my apologies ) People don't know how to forward an email!!!! If you are going to do this, REMOVE all the previous who sent it when to whom's! Also, the best way is to send it to yourself in the TO line, and make all the blast addresses as Blind Copies (BCC).

Ok, I THINK I'm done with this...but reserve the right to return to the thread should it remain interesting

"OUCH!! Quit it!" Quoted from a Simpson's segment. Spoken by Bart.

I have two email adresses.... one for work and one for everything else. Kind of an admin and a social thing. It helps....