The Weirdest Thank You Ever

One from a friend, one from us, but I want to hear yours

The other day a friend of mine¹ posted a picture of this bizarre thank you note he had received after loaning a neighbor a rope to waterski with. Here’s the note:

That’s right: it’s a dead beetle. Yup, that’s weird.

This reminded me of the weirdest thank you note Sara and I ever got. Years ago, we were editing biographical encyclopedias and often found ourselves corresponding with our subjects (including Gene Roddenberry, Roald Dahl, and William Least Heat Moon).

One day, we received a note of thank you for the essay we had written on her by a notable children’s author.² She had written a lovely thank you note, in careful handwriting that betrayed her advanced age, and beneath her signature was a very large, dry booger. “Oh my god,” Sara said to me as she presented the letter, “do you think this was intentional?” We laughed long and hard, wondering about the circumstances—or, better yet, the bizarre personality trait—that would lead this 80-something-year-old lady to wipe a massive booger on her correspondence. It was, by far, the weirdest thank you we’d ever received. (If it came today, I’d have a picture—but this happened 20-some years ago.)

And that leads me to you: what’s the weirdest way you’ve ever been thanked? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments or via email or Facebook—however you care to interact. If you know someone who has a good Thank You story, please share it with them.

1. His name is Kyle Nowadnick, and he’s the grandson of the greatest neighbors of all time: George and Phyllis Nowadnick. George and Phyllis are gone now and we miss them dearly. They would have never thanked us so weirdly.

2. No, I’m not going to name this children’s author, but I’ll say that she is among the most notable children’s authors of the 20th century.