I went to high school in a small rural town, and when I was there were a handful of kids that were in a “gang.” Which meant a few dorky white boys sitting around listening to gangsta rap.

In an attempt to get “cred,” they started a rumor that they had pissed off some gang from a city with a reputation for violent gangs, and that as retribution this gang was going to drive to the high school and shoot it up during lunchtime, so noon. The city in question, though, was a six hour drive away. So there was both the aspect of, how did these dorky white boys from the sticks even get into the same sphere as this hardened urban street gang, as well as the six hour drive meant the gang would have to roll out around 5-6am. Gang members aren’t exactly notorious for getting an early start.

Nevertheless, the parents freaked out and only like a 1/3 of the school showed up that day.