Wheeen you wish upooon a staaarrr....

Why wish on a star when, to make all your wishes come true, all you have to do is email this glurge to 500 of your best friends? Alas, this beauty wasn't emailed to me; I nabbed it from the Atheist Forums, here, where it was posted by Aroura33. I left it as it was, including the weird spacing issues, which are probably the result of this literary nightmare being forwarded approximately four million times around the world. Click on the "Spoiler" button to make it show up.

Spoiler:

A Return is Requested....You'll see why.

Breakfast at McDonald's

This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the St or y, there are some very interesting facts!):

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.

The last class I had to take was Sociology.

The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake,

Literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.

It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then
Even my husband did.

I did not move an inch... An overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched f or acceptance....

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching..

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes..

That is when I noticed all eyes in the

Restaurant were set on me, judging

My every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you.. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.... When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church goers, but we are believers.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.

Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'

I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.


Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS -
NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

There is an Angel sent to watch over you.

In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.

An Angel wrote:
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart
To handle yourself, use your head..
To handle others, use your heart.
God Gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
Send it back, you'll see why!
A box of gold

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With a secret inside
that has never been told

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This box is priceless
but as I see

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The treasure inside is
precious to me

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today I share this
treasure with thee

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It's the treasure of
friendship you've
given me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

If this comes back to you
then you'll have a friend
for life but, if this
becomes deleted, you are
not a friend.
(Emphasis mine!)

Send this to everyone you
consider a friend!
It will grant you one wish and only one wish,
that is, if you decide to send this to others. You can wish for anything.
Repeat your wish until you have stopped scrolling. Make it count!
FOR YOUR WISH TO COME TRUE YOU HAVE TO SEND IT TO:
3 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE EVENTUALLY
5 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 3 MONTHS
10 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 5 WEEKS
15 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 1 WEEK
CAN'T WAIT A WEEK???
22 People-Your Wish Will
Come True In 1 Day!

****** MUST BE SENT OUT THE
DAY YOU READ IT FOR
YOU TO GET YOUR WISH

Yikes! Where do I begin?? Well, for starters, I really hate it when people misuse the word "literally." The writer seems to be under the impression that someone might actually hand her a piece of cake if she smiles at them! This is a very odd delusion, I must say.

Next, there are no details given. We do not know who wrote this, when it was written, the name of the professor or the college, or even the city and state in which it allegedly took place. It could have happened recently, or years ago, or decades ago--and that's assuming it ever happened at all. This is typical of glurge, as is the blatantly overdone sappy sweetness of it.

Does she really have to explain why she went to McDonald's? I can think of better places to "share special playtime" with your kid; but then, some people think going to Walmart is a special occasion, too, so maybe I shouldn't judge.

Why did she put "smiling" in single-quotes? OH, right, it's because she's doing this Sociology thing called "Smile," you see, and....ah, fuck it. She then waxes eloquent about the man's eyes. God always sends messages through the homeless, the disabled, and sick children. That is why he refuses to help any of them himself. If HE did all that work, how would we ever learn any lessons about how beautiful it is to buy a cheap fast-food lunch for a couple of miserable bums?

What's with the crying, anyway?? Look, lady, if you're going to uncork the waterworks every time you meet a homeless person, then you had better be hauling a wagon full of Kleenex everywhere you go.

Her delusions get even worse as she suddenly imagines that everyone in the place is completely captivated by the unfolding of her tiny personal drama. Now, I can only conclude that there must be Christians who think this way in real life, because who is the target audience? Why, gullible Christians who think too highly of themselves, of course. People who imagine that, because they believe in God, everyone else must therefore be judging them. The reality, folks, is that, unless you are behaving like a jerk, we don't give a shit what you do or believe. If I were witness to an event like this, I would get bored within ten seconds and start reading the menu board to decide if I'm in the mood for artificial chicken or artificial beef.

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you.. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I don't understand why people say things like this. "It's not me, it's Jesus!" Why can't Christians just do nice things for other people because THEY want to, and not because their religion says they have to? That's not unconditional love and acceptance, that's just following orders. If you are the sort of person who needs God poking you with a sharp stick just to get you to do the right thing, then you are a pretty pathetic individual.

I must point out that she changed NOTHING for these guys. Eating that one meal didn't change their social status in the least. For all she knows, they get free meals every day off of gullible saps like her. Or it might be another month before they get a decent meal at all. Either way, the only thing they have to look forward to is a lifetime on the streets until they die--just like they did before they met her. So what hope did she give them?

Mostly what I notice about this story is its self-centeredness. It is all about HER, and what a wonderful person she is for doing a kind deed that most of us would do without a second thought. She goes on and on about how she touched the lives of EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the store that day. She seems to think that these acts of kindness are so rare that they warrant subjecting everyone to an epic tale of high drama, in which she is the hero who--through the power of God--became a momentary savior to two unfortunate men.

Is this really anything close to a spirit of humility that Jesus--himself homeless and penniless--would have wanted? According to 1 Corinthians 13, "love does not envy, does not boast, is not proud." If you feed a hungry person and brag about it afterward, you are missing some important biblical lessons.

As for all the crap that's tacked onto the end of the story....well, this, too, is a hallmark of your average glurge. Each person who reads it finds it necessary to add their own thoughts to it, and these are usually even dumber than the story, itself. Poems, Bible verses, animated angel pictures, quotes lifted from here, there, and everywhere--you name it, you are likely to find it trailing the end of the glurge like the tail following a comet. And right at the tag-end, you will find the injunction to send it on to everyone in your address book so that good luck, prosperity, miracles, and happy rainbow promises will follow you all the days of your life. And of course, people do so, because people are stupid and will believe any old thing they read. Why else do you think this thing gets forwarded year after year?