One day in 1977 I opened a packet of Lipton loose leaf tea and found a long piece of wood. I was surprised and a little upset because I was afraid to drink the tea. Of course back then there was no Twitter to post a complaint to the Lipton PR person so I did the only thing I could do. I wrote the company a letter of complaint. I think it was a little humorous — I don’t remember exactly what I said but I think I used the phrase “imagine my surprise…”.

Well, imagine my surprise when I received a personal letter from the Lipton Tea company, including a coupon for a free package of loose leaf tea and the Lipton Newsletter. And of course I saved it.