Thank You from the Old Folks Home
Netlore Archive: An 84-year-old resident of the Safety Harbor Assisted Home for the Aged writes to administrators of the local middle school to thank them for the radio she won at a senior citizen's luncheon
Description: Email joke / Faxlore
Circulating since: 1999 (Internet version)
Status: False
Email example contributed by M. Levy, 21 March 2003:
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Just when you lost faith in human kindness: Someone who teaches at a Middle School in Safety Harbor, Florida forwarded the following letter. The letter was sent to the principal's office after the school had sponsored a luncheon for the elderly. An old lady received a new radio at the lunch, and was writing to say thanks.
God blesses you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the Safety Harbor Assisted Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away. I am all alone now and it's nice to know that someone is thinking of me. God bless you for your kindness to an old forgotten lady. My roommate is 95 and always had her own radio, but before I received one, she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. The other day her radio fell off the night stand and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. She asked if she could listen to mine, and I said, "Fuck you." Life is good. Sincerely, Edna |
Comments: Notwithstanding the fact that some folks seem to believe this is a real letter written by a plainspeaking senior citizen, it is actually an old joke first documented by Alan Dundes and Carl Pagter in their 1975 book, Urban Folklore of the Paperwork Empire. In that variant, shakily handwritten and signed by one "Marjorie Winters" of the "Wilton Retirement Home," the letter is addressed to "Dear Sir," with no mention of a middle school or senior citizens luncheon. But the structure of the joke is the same, as is the punchline. In those pre-Internet days, it was widely circulated by fax machine.
The earliest Internet version I could find is dated August 1999 and contains the reference to Safety Harbor Middle School. It was signed "Edna Johnston," though other Internet versions bear the signature "Edna Walters," or simply "Edna." One reason some people are fooled into thinking it's real is that the Safety Harbor Middle School really exists in western Florida. For good measure, I contacted the school's current principal, who wrote back: "Unfortunately this has been circulating for the past few years. It is not true and I have no idea how it got started."
It was clearly not the first time she'd been asked about it. Nor, I'm afraid, will it be the last.
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Last updated: 04/08/04
