"Urban Legends"
            
             Because "truth is stranger than fiction," people tend to believe many urban legends.
             Someone who sees the world as being a place where strange and remarkable things are happening all around them might find the strange and remarkable urban legends they encounter easier to believe than someone who perceives the world as being largely ordinary (Toropov, p. 9). Anyone who is a regular reader of the local publication The Metro Pulse and has read the section titled "News of the Weird" knows that our planet has some unusual people and even more unusual true stories, thus tying back in to the adage that "truth is stranger than fiction." This can make it difficult for people to differentiate between truth and fiction. For example, the following excerpt taken from "News Of The Weird" assists in explaining the bizarre yet truthful stories that occur worldwide: "Among the anticipated products at the February American International Toy Fair in New York City (according to the New York Post) were a gun that shoots boogers, a squeezable doll that smells like rotten eggs, a flea (based on a pro wrestling character) that emits rank body odors after warning 'I'm gonna blow,' and a dissectible brain that oozes slime" (News Of The Weird, 2004).
             If the above story were told to us at the office water cooler, would you believe it? If the conversation started out from a co-worker that "a friend of mine told me that..." would that make it more believable? Compare the above story to the urban legend of the young girl who was home alone one night. All of her windows closed and locked properly, except for one window in the basement. That night, she awoke from a dead sleep, stirred by what appeared to be the sound of dripping water. Nervously, she dropped her hand off of the bed and let her dog lick her hand for reassurance that he would protect her. H...