One afternoon in late March, a boy named Jack visited Powell's On Hawthorne, part of a well-known independent bookstore chain in Portland, Oregon. And he puked there. A lot.
"It was gigantic in diameter," manager Jennifer Wicka told BuzzFeed News. She guessed the mess might have spanned 10 or 12 feet.
Wicka and her assistant manager, who had just walked into work, were left to clean it up.
But that's not where things ended. On April 1, Powell's received a handwritten thank you note from Jack. The envelope read, "Attention Barf Cleaners," just in case there was any confusion as to who it was for.
My friend Jen manages the @Powells Home/Garden store & she got this in the mail today!!! "Attention Barf Cleaners"...
He even included a Ben & Jerry's gift card.
"I don't know their names but I thank them alot [sic] and I'm sorry again for throwing up," Jack wrote. "And I hope you enjoy your ice cream."
It was lovingly signed: "Jack, AKA the kid that puked right next to the bathroom."
Jack was in the store with a couple of friends during spring break. Wicka wasn't sure how old he was, but guessed he might be in his early teens. He did not seem intoxicated, she said, and had been complaining about a local eatery making him sick.
In 16 years at Powell's, Wicka said she's rarely had to clean up puke. Never once has she gotten a note like Jack's.
"I opened it up and read it and it totally made my day. I'm pretty grumpy about people and humanity," Wicka said. "Oh man, some people are good."
Julie Kliegman is a News Fellow and is based in New York.
Contact Julie Kliegman at Julie.Kliegman@buzzfeed.com.
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