The rumour mill

by Martin Currie

The war in Afghanistan worries us all, but some of these worries are closer to home than you might think. A colleague of mine told me a story about a friend of his who saw a group of Arabic looking lads leave a wallet on a table in a pub in Leeds. When this friend ran after them and returned the wallet she was offered a large cash reward. She refused the offer and so was told by the mysterious strangers to avoid Leeds city centre on the 27th of October, the implication being some terrorist atrocity these boys were privy to would occur. A few days later my sister in law told me of a friend of hers who had been in the supermarket behind an Arabic looking stranger who was a little short of cash for their shopping. This friend gave the stranger the needed 50p or so, then was stopped outside the shop, thanked and told to avoid Meadowhall on October 20th. Within the week I had heard a different version of the Meadowhall story, and on asking around I heard versions of both stories set in Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham. A friend in California told of a similar myth in America, which is keeping people away from shopping malls over Halloween. Obviously these stories are totally untrue, but something makes perfectly reasonable and well-intentioned people tell them. Some people I have mentioned this to, have seen these myths as racist and possibly dangerous. I think the events of September the 11th made us all feel a little more vulnerable and these stories tap into this fear. They depict an enemy in our midst, yet one with a very human face, who is grateful for small kindnesses. These stories are about what we fear, and about hope too.

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