[APG Public List] [APG Members] friend of a friend

[LBoswell]

This is actually often true in oral interviews, that people will abbreviate 
information, and shorten the distance between themselves and the source 
(generationally speaking).  It's human nature, not intentionally lying. 
It's good story telling.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/urban-legend2.htm

But any good interviewer knows how to get around this kind of thing, and 
begin to prove or disprove it.

Note that sometimes it will be friend saying "friend of a friend of mine". 
Other times they'll simply drop one generation making it "friend of mine". 
As the article says it's not lying, it's just wanting to be closer to the 
story, a near participant.  Or sometimes because the friend believes it 
happened to someone else, it becomes "it happened to me", dropping two links 
in the chain.

And then chances are it will remain "friend of a friend".  I bet someone on 
the list will say "a friend of a guy on the APG list" sent money (dropping 
one of the generations).

as I said, it's one of the pitfalls any interviewer has to watch out for 
(grandparents become the source when they actually heard it from their 
grandparents, and so on)

Larry 
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