The Billy Evans burlap body boy is one of those annoying anti-chain letters, this time, parodying the sick kid hoax.
Apparently some people didn't get the joke, and as a result, it was widely spread, undergoing some changes, and made its way on to hoax-busting sites likeTruthOrFiction, Hoax-Slayer. along with queries from people about whether or not it was true.
I had written a post, basically asking the real author of this chain letter to stand up and own up, and eventually, someone did. We will get to that, but first, my original post.
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Elburto and this person are they one and the same?
Both claim to have written the notorious Billy Evans Burlap Sack Boy chain letter.
So, who committed this anti-chain letter, really? Elburto, the one on Contra's Reddit chain letter thread, the one who was so sure of himself and sent it to only one person, or the poster on Salon who's memory seems a bit unclear but for being sure they wrote it? Is Elburto on Reddit the same person as the one on the Salon article?
None of the hoax-busting sites I've checked out, trace authorship back to anyone.
Loathed as I am to include a Snopes link, it is necessary to let their nasty attitude toward Jesus and Christianity be seen. Snopes inserts their own crappy personal suggestion by saying this glurge needs a reference to Jesus in it to make it complete.
I sharply disagree! Don't drag Jesus into this! That would turn the joke into a mocking of Jesus Christ and of Christianity, and as if there aren't already way too many ludicrous chain letters and people doing that. NOT COOL!
But the all important question remains: who really wrote Billy Smiles Evans?
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Jason Dole found my article and made this interesting reply back in 2010 when this meme-mangling site was still at Groupsites.com. Note his mention of different mutations of this forward as it spread.
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"I wrote Billy "Smiles" Eavans (the Burlap Boy), about 12 years ago. Every once in a while I check the web to see if it's still out there. It's been a couple of years since I last looked. This is the first time someone demanded to know who wrote it (in the past, I tried telling people I wrote it, and no one cared).
Why did I do it? I wanted to make fun of the same chain letters you want to stop, not to make fun of religion. I, too noticed the "Jesus" comment at Snopes, and it always irks me a little. I wanted to keep my satirical email non-denominational (though I do mention the Pope), and keep the concept so ridiculous that it couldn't be real and wouldn't be making fun of any real illness. Also, it has been changed by people over the years. My original had NO swearing in it and nothing about animal poo. It's funny what people change...
I've read the "what's so bad about chain letters" section, and tend to agree with most of it. I don't feel like I fit in with all of that though, because this was written as satire. The Pope is mentioned, but so is Bill Gates. It's a pastiche of all the ridiculous claims I saw in chain letters.
So, again, I wasn't making fun of God or religion. I was responding to all of those horrible, guilt-inducing chain letters. I rejected the guilt through humor. I fought back with funny. I realize it's kind of dark, not for everyone. This was never intended to be a hoax that people should believe. I'm not a "manipulative, power-tripping ego-freak" or bully having a laugh at Christians, conservatives, or people with real afflictions. No one has Billy's illness, and I hope no one ever does.
Good luck breaking the chains!"
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Well, you should make yourself at ease about that, no one will ever have Billy's condition and live. No one can. It's an impossibility.
Like so many others who are fed up with chain letters, Jason meant well. But like so many others, he reacted to chain letters with the anti-chain, and it backfired to some extent. He is an example of someone who has created a chain letter without bad intent, but his story is a good lesson in why not to write anti-chains. They can get away on their author, and at best, they become stale old jokes.
At worst, gullible people actually believe them. When you've seen them too many times, they get as annoying as Youtube Bob or any other meme.
Mangling of the sad sack boy chain and I'm taking on the one that was altered from the original by whatever moron thought it was cool to include poop in the narrative.
Over and out.
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