We all have friends who love to send email. Sometimes the emails we receive are reports or news of what our friends are up to. At other times it is a forwarded little anecdote or funny story that they thought just needed passing along. Does this annoy you or is it just me? As an example, I have this great friend of mine who is over-seas right now – he is quite the ‘red neck’ type, ex LA County Sheriff and all around Pro-American. He sends me all of the Right Wing crap about how the Commies are taking over the world. Oops, he use to do that now he just rants about immigration issues and how every one here should just be American not X, Y, Z….American. You get the picture. His mail I just delete quietly lest I seam somehow Un-American and get Big Brother looking in on me.

Then there is Karyn. You know her, she is the girl that is as liberal as a mouse living under the pew at the inner city Gospel Chapel riding along in the back pocket of some Pink Panther while they march for equal rights for something or other. She sends me email too. Today was really special because Karyn sends me this letter titled, “Smile For The Day”. I just can’t wait to see the joke she is sending so I quickly open the mail and what do I find? Well its not a virus at least. You be the judge:

David,

I just thought you would love this little story and I think it will put a grin on your face:

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from
Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a
young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The
elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down
on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot, and found a large piece
of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could,
Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the
elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the
man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several
tense moments.

Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mbemb was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his
teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the
creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu
were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its
front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several
times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn’t help wondering if
this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed
over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up
to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe’s
legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

So I am sitting here wondering if I ever heard this story before or some variation on it. Urban legend has it that somewhere this has been spoken again and again and now is a rampent internet moster. All in all its a good tale so I thought you would enjoy the Spam. You know a man the best when you see what fills his in box so there you go try to figure that out!