Thanks to the '90s and early 2000s, the idea of finding a message in a bottle is a wildly romantic idea. Who knows what long-lost cousin or forbidden love of our lives we might discover when we find one of these?
But in all reality, finding a message in a bottle may not be all that romantic. One couple discovered, in fact, that it would be best to leave it alone.
While walking along the beach, Rick and Crystal of @auslapourway on TikTok noticed a bottle floating in with the tide. When they realized there was something inside, they began recording a video to reveal the contents.
Rick can be heard saying:
"We're seeing a bottle here. It looks like it's got a message in it."
But the bottle was not at all what they expected.
Still recording, Rick retrieved the bottle from the ocean before passing it off to Crystal, who began opening it on camera. After struggling with the cap for a moment, Crystal questioned how they would get the paper out and began dumping the sand out.
Unable to get the paper out, Rick continued to record the video with one hand while shaking the bottle with the other, knocking the rest of the sand out, though the piece of paper remained lodged inside.
More curious than ever, Crystal tried a different tactic.
Crystal turned the bottle over and attempted to read through the dirty glass before discovering their mistake.
"'Here lies...'Oh! They're ashes! Oh no!"
"'Here lies the ashes of Geoffrey. If found, please throw bottle into outgoing tide so I can continue my journey."
The camera then caught a shocked-looking Crystal on screen before the video ended.
You can watch the video here:
Some fellow TikTokers were absolutely shocked by what they had just seen.
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
Others questioned Geoffery's successor's design choices.
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
@auslapourway/TikTok
People have all kinds of wishes for when they've passed away, and special wishes for where to spread ashes are nothing new.
But it seems that if someone wanted to travel the world in a bottle, they would mark the outside of the bottle in some way, or glue the bottle shut, so that it wouldn't accidentally be opened and result in an anticlimactic ending to their journey around the globe.
Lesson learned.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Dunning-Kruger Times