That new virus you warned me about doesn’t scare me

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm not worried about the virus threat you mentioned to me in your email. You know, the one that will be the worst virus to ever strike? The one that will destroy the entire contents of my computer? And the one that will email itself to all of the contacts in my email software?

Better yet, I won't even flinch when you tell me that the virus is 100% real because it was verified on such-and-such web site or mentioned on the Today Show or CNN.

Why? Because your pending doom email is like that car alarm going off in the parking lot to me. Sure, I hear the alarm going off but I don't really pay any attention to it because I hear car alarms go off every other day.

So while I may believe that the virus is real, I really won't take any extra precautions. Maybe it's because I know which email attachments I should open and which ones I shouldn't. Or because I keep my computer's security software up to date. Or because I use real-time, online backups for all of my data.

Or just maybe, I'm the exception to the rule. Either way, on the day the virus is supposed to attack, I will just go about my normal business, like I do on any other day.

That is, of course, until one of these viruses actually does hit me and I have to write a retraction to everything I just said.