Life

Maybe the greatest joke I ever pulled off: In 1992, several friends visited Washington, D.C. with me and stayed in a place called The Capitol Hill Suites. It rained the entire time so there was little to do except tour the area saloons. We were young and wild and we left our room a bit in shambles but certainly nothing like a rock star. I took a piece of stationery and an envelope from the room when we checked out and when we returned home wrote the following letter to Tom Ruebel, one of the guys on the trip:

Dear Mr. Ruebel:

The following damage charges are due The Capitol Hill because of your registration as co-resident on February 14-17:

Broken Club Chair $125
Venetian Blinds $45
Toilet Seat $50
Additional Cleaning $25

This figure is the total due and should be shared with your co-residents. If this amount is not received, your charge card will be debited.

Sincerely,

Frank Abdul-Bahizar
Resident Manager

To cap off the joke, I placed the stamped envelope in our D.C. pouch which was sent to Washington every day from the Congressional office where I worked. I asked a fellow staffer to put it in the mail so that it would have a D.C. postmark.

Needless to say, Tom called me immediately upon receiving the letter. "Oh my god, I got a letter from the hotel. I'm not paying this. It was your friends who broke this stuff. I don't know how they got my address. I can't afford this". It was all I could do from laughing so I told him I had to call him back. I made him read me the letter again and told him that there was no way that my friends were going to pay for the damage.

I only let him stew on it for an hour or so. I figured he would call Mr. Abdul-Bahizar and figure out it was a joke.

I find this letter every four years or so and always laugh to myself. Today I found the original while looking through some work files for something.