I first heard about this last night, and it took me by surprise

That's the whole point. Right? I mean, I heard a few people talking about it in a store here in Mandan, and I just caught bits and pieces of two people talking about a whole chain of restaurants closing. So I edged closer without making it too obvious that I was snooping, but when you hear something like that, you WANT to know more. Unfortunately, their conversation came to an end when one of them entered the restroom, so I did the next best thing: I went home and searched Google.

So what restaurant chain were those two people talking about?

It only took me a second or two until I came across this headline:

:MONEY SEASONAL:

"Olive Garden sanctions the closure of all 900 locations in two total shutdowns lasting 48 hours"

So I put two and two together and figured out that one of those two people in that store only SAW the first nine words ( and numbers ) of that story from The U.S. Sun. That is exactly how rumors start and grow like crazy. So yes, our Bismarck Olive Garden is one of the 900 locations that is closing its doors - for two nights. "The company has confirmed it will shut down all 900 restaurants completely on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.Restaurants will reopen the day after Thanksgiving, however the company website warned that opening hours may vary on the eve of both holidays"

In our fast-paced social media world, always take a second before you believe any rumors you hear - do some quick Google research.