So is Paul Dead Too?
When I was a kid, way back in the late 1960s, I remember hearing a strange rumor. The rumor shook my cousins and I to the core. I remember laying across my aunt's bed in her pink bedroom, in the soft darkness surrounded by cousins and aunts and hearing the shocking news that Paul McCartney was dead.
The radio announcer droned on in that soft darkness, speaking of the "Paul is dead" theories that he blew his mind out in a car, just like that song, and had been replaced by an imposter. It's hard to believe right now, but back then it was cataclysmic. The Beatles were everything, they'd invaded every corner of the world by then. Everyone had a favorite Beatle. Some loved Ringo with his sad smile. Others preferred a dark George Harrison or a witty John Lennon. For me there was no finer man that the sleepy-eyed cutie Paul McCartney.
I remember being upset for weeks, and even to this day I can remember the tension in that pink bedroom and our weeping.
Turns out we'd been told something very wrong.
Today I thought again about that night, suddenly back in that bedroom with my aunts and cousins. Why? I had to issue a statement at NLQ over the dumb rumors online that this person had died. I knew they had not. In fact, the first dozen or so times I saw the rumor that they'd died after being kidnapped and sex trafficked I'd laughed.
One thing about the internet, no matter how dull and mundane your life is if you have even the slightest bit of internet notoriety someone somewhere will invent a crazy tale about you. I've heard a few about myself and laughed. My truth is just not that exciting. Pool, hot tub, beach, rinse, repeat, take a nap. Boobs drooping, getting grayer every day.
Yesterday I had folks spamming the NLQ Facebook with the rumor demanding to know why I'd not announced the death. I didn't announce it because it was just not true. It is another 'Paul is dead' hoax.
I'd mistakenly thought that the hoaxer was some sick individual getting their jollies by pretending to be someone with not the firmest grip on sanity, but I'm sad to say that the hoaxer is the person they claim to be. I'm not sure exactly what madness or desire to lash out brought that out, but there it is. I hope they get help because being angry enough to say those things has to be a very bad space to be in. I pray she gets help.
The radio announcer droned on in that soft darkness, speaking of the "Paul is dead" theories that he blew his mind out in a car, just like that song, and had been replaced by an imposter. It's hard to believe right now, but back then it was cataclysmic. The Beatles were everything, they'd invaded every corner of the world by then. Everyone had a favorite Beatle. Some loved Ringo with his sad smile. Others preferred a dark George Harrison or a witty John Lennon. For me there was no finer man that the sleepy-eyed cutie Paul McCartney.
I remember being upset for weeks, and even to this day I can remember the tension in that pink bedroom and our weeping.
Turns out we'd been told something very wrong.
Today I thought again about that night, suddenly back in that bedroom with my aunts and cousins. Why? I had to issue a statement at NLQ over the dumb rumors online that this person had died. I knew they had not. In fact, the first dozen or so times I saw the rumor that they'd died after being kidnapped and sex trafficked I'd laughed.
One thing about the internet, no matter how dull and mundane your life is if you have even the slightest bit of internet notoriety someone somewhere will invent a crazy tale about you. I've heard a few about myself and laughed. My truth is just not that exciting. Pool, hot tub, beach, rinse, repeat, take a nap. Boobs drooping, getting grayer every day.
Yesterday I had folks spamming the NLQ Facebook with the rumor demanding to know why I'd not announced the death. I didn't announce it because it was just not true. It is another 'Paul is dead' hoax.
I'd mistakenly thought that the hoaxer was some sick individual getting their jollies by pretending to be someone with not the firmest grip on sanity, but I'm sad to say that the hoaxer is the person they claim to be. I'm not sure exactly what madness or desire to lash out brought that out, but there it is. I hope they get help because being angry enough to say those things has to be a very bad space to be in. I pray she gets help.
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