American puts message in bottle, receives reply from Englishman angry about plastic bottle being thrown into sea

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

An American who threw a message in a bottle into the sea was stunned when he received a reply from an Englishman - who accused him of littering.
US Coastguard captain Harvey Bennett tossed the plastic bottle into the Atlantic last August with his name and address inside.
It bobbed 3,000 miles east until it washed up on a beach in Poole, Dorset, five months later.
It was picked up by a walker called Henry Biggelsworth who opened it and read the letter.
But he was so furious that the bottle had been discarded deliberately he penned an angry response to the sender.
In it Mr Bigglesworth accused Mr Bennett of "fouling" the environment.
He wrote: "I recently found your bottle while taking a scenic walk on a beach by Poole Harbour.
"While you may consider this some profound experiment on the path and speed of oceanic currents, I have another name for it - litter.
"You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking-up about somewhere. If you wish to foul your own nest, all well and good.
"But please refrain in the future from fouling mine."
Mr Bennett, 55, from Long Island, New York, was thrilled at first when he received a package in the post with a Great Britain postmark on and saw his bottle inside.
But he was flabbergasted when he read the curt note enclosed with it.
He said: "My first thought was that the guy needed to get a life. I couldn't believe it."

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Friday, 3 February 2006 09:51 (nineteen years ago)

Typical Brits!

If it had washed ashore in Japan they would have worshiped it.

― Mr. Latham Green (hanle y 3000), Friday, 3 February 2006 09:54 (nineteen years ago)

You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking-up about somewhere

What a jerk

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 3 February 2006 09:58 (nineteen years ago)

"Mr. Bigglesworth, 12"

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:07 (nineteen years ago)

oops, "Biggelsworth"

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:07 (nineteen years ago)

I bet Mr Biggelsworth writes angry letters of complaint to the newspapers signed "Disgusted of Poole", too.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:19 (nineteen years ago)

He should have printed out a goatse jpg w/the words LOL PWN3D over the top of it, put that back in the bottle with the original note, and thrown it back into the sea.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:20 (nineteen years ago)

you mean he's not joking?

― the kit! (g-kit), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:21 (nineteen years ago)

he sounds like the guy who would burst footballs if they ever landed in his garden. the twonk.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:23 (nineteen years ago)

I think Henry Biggelsworth is joking.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:25 (nineteen years ago)

It was picked up by a walker called Henry Biggelsworth who opened it and read the letter.

There's a typo in that sentence.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:25 (nineteen years ago)

This proves Jon Williams was right all along :(

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:25 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, surely there's no-one who is really called "Henry Biggelsworth". That's got to be a made up name.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:28 (nineteen years ago)

i think it's bollocks. 'Henry Biggelsworth' is having a laugh.
xpost exactly!

― the kit! (g-kit), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:28 (nineteen years ago)

Hello James Ward! Long time no internet-see.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)

Henry Biggelworth is obviously the made-up English-sounding name of someone who is joking.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)

um, this is really, really obviously a joke! no one says "mucking-up about" or "taking a scenic walk". my favourite bit is "foul your own nest".

― emsk ( emsk), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:33 (nineteen years ago)

Retired army colonels living in Cheltenham talk like that all the time.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

um actually yeah you're all probably right.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

Hallo Cathy, how are you?

192.com comes up with no results for H Biggelsworth.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:42 (nineteen years ago)

Ha! I just checked the phone book too. I can't find a Biggelsworth or a Bigglesworth in Poole.

There's a Harvey Bennett who owns a fishing tackle shop in Amagansett which is somewhere near Long Island. I wonder if it's the same guy who threw the bottle?

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:46 (nineteen years ago)

Pretty good thanks, JW. I am in Spain! Are you still LJing?

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:51 (nineteen years ago)

Mr. Bigglesworth is Dr. Evil's bald angora cat in the Austin Powers movies, no?

― StanM (StanM), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:53 (nineteen years ago)

Heyyy,

"We are ILX ! You can't pull the wool over Our eyes - ah!"

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:55 (nineteen years ago)

I ended my LJ in a blaze of glory.

Is there some way of getting a list of US Coastguard captains?

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 10:59 (nineteen years ago)

I tried googling for this "news" story, but couldn't find anything. It's probably just a joke.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:15 (nineteen years ago)

I don't want it to be a joke. I want it to be real.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:26 (nineteen years ago)

well i want the story to be real but the message to be a real joke, if you see what i mean

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:31 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah I couldn't find the source either. I'll keep pretending it's for real despite my doubts though.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:32 (nineteen years ago)

I think I might email the Captain Harvey Bennett of Amagansett, Long Island and ask if he knows anything about the message-in-a-bottle thing.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:38 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, go ahead. I think his email address is captain_harvey_bennett01@hotmail.com

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:40 (nineteen years ago)

I have found his work email address, so I shall try and contact him there.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:42 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, captain_harvey_bennett01@hotmail.com is probably his personal email address then.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:43 (nineteen years ago)

No, it's probably one which you just made up to entertain me :)

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:44 (nineteen years ago)

Playing devils a. for a mo., but isn't it littering? If I saw someone throwing a plastic bottle into Poole Harbour I think I'd be p'ed off actually.

Maybe I've got a humour bypass when it comes to this.

― Ned T.RIfle II (Ned T.Rifle II), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

You people never seem to be happy unless you're mucking up about someone else's inbox.

xposts

― melton mowbray (adr), Friday, 3 February 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

He wrote: "I recently found your email while taking a scenic walk on a beach by Poole Harbour.
"While you may consider this some profound exposition on the path and speed of rub, I have another name for it - spam.
"You ILXors don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking-up about someone's inbox. If you wish to foul your own trousers, all well and good.
"But please refrain in the future from fouling mine."

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 3 February 2006 12:11 (nineteen years ago)

He fouled ILX's trousers?

His name is Harvey Bennett, not Hot Carl.

― C J (C J), Friday, 3 February 2006 12:17 (nineteen years ago)

in other news, us gets a "d+ rating" in ocean policy today. so maybe this made-up brit dude is right.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 3 February 2006 14:37 (nineteen years ago)

The guy who spends time writing letters to no one thinks that someone else needs to get a life. Yeeeeeah.

― mike h. (mike h.), Friday, 3 February 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/400/terrythomas_2.jpg
A-rawhah. A-rawhawhawrawhah. Soil your nest. Rawhawhaw.

― Dave will do (dave225.3), Friday, 3 February 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.