Man finds 106-year old message in a bottle, refuses to open it.

Steve Thurber was walking along a beach in Tofino, British Columbia, when he stumbled upon a green bottle sealed with a letter inside. The letter, slightly unfurled within said bottle, has a date of September 29, 1906, signed by an Earl Willard, who was sailing from San Francisco, California, to Bellingham, Washington--and that's the extent of the clues of the message inside.

Records show the oldest message in a bottle ever found is from 1914--which Thurber's bottle would best by eight years--but Thurber has no desire to open the bottle and read the letter. Nope. None. The letter remains in the bottle, unread and unloved.

Why? As he told Global News, "I guess it is a chance thing that you find something that somebody sent out into the water. I mean, even if it was a year later or ten years later, but a hundred years later is just unreal."

I think Thurber is kind of missing out on a couple of points here:

1.) The act: Earl Willard threw a bottle into a ocean with a letter inside, hoping some day someone would find the bottle and read the letter.

2.) The letter: A letter's only purpose is to be read. To not read a letter negates a letter's entire purpose and existence.

So a hat-tip to Steve Thurber for taking a stand and killing Earl Willard's 106-year old dream! Nicely done!*




*Sarcasm