Chained to Chaining Chains?

(With my previous post, I was inspired to write more about letters.)

I used to look forward to green-letter days.

If the English language has the term 'red-letter day' to stand for a noteworthy day, I, during my childhood, have designated 'green-letter day' as a day when someone would receive a chain letter. The reason why I chose that expression was that years ago, chain letters were usually printed on green paper and arrived in green envelopes. Yeah right, the meaning of my very own invented term is quite literal. But it is so convenient and no other term could probably be more appropriate.

One time, when I saw my Mama Menchu (my deceased favorite lola) look inside our mailbox to discover that there was a green envelope lying inside and patiently waiting for it to be picked up, I was overjoyed. A chain letter, hooray! My neurons fired excitedly, sending out two messages to my other neurons. One: If I could just persuade Mama to send out one copy of the letter to me, I would be a few inches away towards my wishes. Two: If I could not persuade Mama to do so, I would just request her to add-on my wishes to hers. Oh well. Scheming, eh? However, the strategies I have managed to make during that moment were, unfortunately, to no avail. Mama Menchu never picked up that green envelope, and did not want me to do the same thing. Days passed and I kept opening the mailbox eyeing the letter curiously. It was hard for me to resist the temptation of ripping it open and following what it told me to do. Finally, the day came when I had nothing to eye inside the mailbox. The green envelope was gone. Maybe it was picked up by someone from our household (my Tito Gil, most probably) who just trashed it away. Maybe my wishes were just meant to be wishes - not to be brought to a higher level. Maybe.

My fondness and fervent desire back then to receive chain letters was rooted in my hope and desperation to have something that would make my wishes come true. This desire went hand in hand with my dreaming of spotting a shooting star across the velvet sky of the night and finding a good-hearted genie trapped in an antique lamp.That was why I cannot really grasp why my Mama Menchu did not like receiving chains at all. I mean, who would not want to take a shortcut towards one's wants? Who would not want to get what he needs simply by sending out copies of the chain letter to other people? Duh. Everyone supposedly likes the easiest way out (or in, whatever the case may be). Why, then, a repulsion from chain letters?

This question boggled me as I grew up -- grew up in a society wherein snail mail neared extinction while SMS, MMS, and electronic mail steadily flourished. Soon enough, I started receiving chain letters. Actually, they would be more appropriately called as chain texts and chain e-mails. I sticked with the letters' rules. I wished more wishes.

When I was in early high school, I received a chain letter via e-mail which said that the ghost shown in the attachment (the attachment was a 'recorded video which caught the ghost') would haunt me if I would not forward the e-mail to others. I think it also promised good stuff to those who would send the e-mail to others. Being the devoted chain letter-sender that I was, I went on to forward it to my contacts. When I was about to click the 'SEND' button, my internet connection disconnected. My prepaid net card was already empty! Poor. I was afraid that the ghost would really come and get me. I waited for midnight (thinking that I better be awake and see the ghost materialize than be asleep and give the ghost the chance to wake me up with all glory), but no ghost appeared.

With that, I gave a thought about all the stuff I was doing. Chains are just hoaxes. I have come to the conclusion that my forwarding chains was lame, foolish and wasteful. With my more mature mind, I realized that it is impossible for me to get to my wishes JUST by sending out chain letters. Things are not going to happen with that alone. Life is good, but it is not THAT good for it to be THAT easy.

When that understanding dawned on me, I have come to look at chain letters way differently. I despised them. I then did not want receiving chain letters, much more sending out the same thing to others for the 'fulfillment of my wishes'. I have managed to come up with some points (I was not able to think about when I was young) to support my stand:

*How could chains, especially those written under RELIGIOUS PRETEXTS, threaten you with bad luck after wishing you good luck? I mean, would God (whose name appears in many chains) want you to be threatened like that? No, He would not. I firmly believe that He is a just God who would not base your faith on Him simply your being faithful to chains. Being faithful to Him is much more than that, isn't it?

*"Unlimited ka naman diba," that is how chains would usually start in texts. 'Unlimited' referring to the unlimited SMS networks offer nowadays. It even precedes the promise of good luck (e.g. These angels are sent to blah, blah; These bees are money bees, chorva, chorva; God is good, blah blah...). Chains just appear to give you a superficial reason (because you are enjoying unlimited text) for you to pass on the message. One could pass it not necessarily because he believes the 'value' preached by the message but just because "naka-unlimited naman siya."

*Most people would say, "I would not lose anything naman if I pass on this chain!" Yeah right. But seriously, would you lose anything if you DO NOT pass it? No, you would not.

I have shunned many chains which I am quite sure you have received as well (I'm not just sure if you shunned them the way I did) without getting ill, without ending up dead, etcetera, after. God is good and God is fair.

I do not mean to offend people who are so into chain letter sending. Just do not expect me to support these chains stuff again.

If you do so, I would be the weakest link.