It’s one of the most romantic gestures of all time — finding a message in a bottle.
Two of my friends from high school and I tried it back when we were around 17.
All three of us were shy, single, and really into romantic gestures.
We drove out to a small beach in New Jersey and gave it a shot. Our message wasn’t romantic in nature — it was just goofy. Really, we were trying to figure out what the end result would be. In a way, it was somewhat like a time capsule. Would someone reach out to us as a Craigslist missed connection?
It turns out, we didn’t throw the bottle far enough. In fact, it washed back up pretty quickly, and we saw the family who found it. It was a mom with three young sons, and all three of us quickly froze, wondering whether or not we wrote anything that’d be seen as too profane. And, that was the last we heard about it.
The message is likely long gone.
It’s probably similar to how Hayley Robbins thought things would go when she visited Myrtle Beach. At the time, she was just 12 and had boys on the brain. So, she found a softball and wrote her number on there, on the lookout for hot guys.
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Years had passed since Hayley placed the ball.
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But still, she remembered it. And in 2017, someone actually wrote back.
“I thought it would be really cool to see if anyone ever actually would find the softball,” she said to Buzzfeed News. To be honest, you’d assume that most people would pick up a softball on the beach before picking up an old bottle to see if something was inside.
She shared what happened on Twitter.
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The person who found it said his name was Adam. And, Hayley knew he was for real based on photo proof.
There’s a chance that she was thinking about that softball for some time. It’s a risky move to put your number out there (especially if you’re only 12, but hey — we all do things we question later.) But after six years, you probably assumed the text would wear off, or the ball would have been destroyed by the ocean.
But then something unexpected happened.
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Believe it or not, Hayley was kinda-sorta catfished.
The person who sent the text wasn’t actually named Adam. Buzzfeed reports that the finder of the softball was actually named Kelci, and she was from North Carolina. The lie was, reportedly, to protect herself. But there’s something a little suspicious about it.
Hayley had her full name on the ball.
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And, it was still obvious that she was looking for “cute guys.”
It’s possible that Kelci is cute and identifies as a male, for sure. But that’s still not a reason to lie. Turns out, Kelci does identify as a female, as per 2017, but just found the ball in passing and decided to give Robbins a text to see what would happen. So, she messaged as Adam and claimed she’d be her “superhero.”
Here’s part of their text exchange:
But, there’s more about this story that’s a little strange.
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Kelci didn’t just find the ball. She was holding onto it for years.
“I just felt compelled to text her for some reason,” Kelci said to Buzzfeed News. So, she was holding onto it for the right moment. Or, maybe the moment where she was just bored enough to see if anyone would respond back. If Kelci was also young, maybe that’s why the fake identity came into play.
The good news is that Hayley seemed very forgiving.
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Even after Kelci cleared up her story, Hayley didn’t seem to mind.
She was so shocked about even getting a response that she didn’t seem to care that it wasn’t a cute boy on the other end of the text. Thus, proving she really did this all in good fun. Who knows? Maybe the two chatted even more after the story went viral.
She doesn’t even care that her number was out there for the world to see.
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She figured that the tweet would only circulate among her group of friends. Instead, everyone saw it.
That means she got a ton of messages. Most of them, from the looks of it, seemed to be kind and sincere. The fact that she didn’t take the tweet down means that she’s accepted what happened and thinks it’s actually pretty cool. Imagine if she met her dream guy that way instead?
She inspired a lot of people to do the same thing.
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The internet has made us forget that back in the day, connecting with a stranger was a rarity.
These days, we can meet anyone online. But back then, a message in a bottle seemed like a cool way to connect with someone completely different. So, Hayley’s response inspired others to send their own messages and artwork out into the world. Can you imagine having a stranger in another country discovering their new favorite artist based on a message in a bottle?
If you do the same, remember to be careful.
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The world is a more open place, but you literally have no clue who’ll find the bottle.
It could be Adam. It could be Kelci. Or, it could be someone looking to scam a young dreamer. So if you’re inspired to make your own message in a bottle, perhaps tie it to an email address that you’ve created just for that very purpose. And, make sure that address doesn’t include your whole name.
Also, don’t bank on anyone responding.
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It’s fun if they do, but also unlikely.
So if you’re waiting for your Prince Charming to arrive via message in a bottle, you might want to move forward. You’ll have better luck finding a connection through a dating site online. For Hayley, it was just in good fun. That’s why she wasn’t so heartbroken when “Adam” wasn’t who he said he was.
Unfortunately, Hayley is single today.
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According to her Twitter account, she’s still looking for the right guy.
But, she’s still young. And she has a great personality. So something is bound to happen eventually. And unlike your standard single girl, she legitimately has the whole world rooting for her. Since so many people were invested in her softball technique, they’re all hoping for a happy update.
Her account is still a good follow for fellow singletons.
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She often retweets the good stuff.
When you’ve been single for some time, you almost form your own community of people who understand. Finding someone great as an 18-year-old is almost as uncommon as finding a washed-up softball on the beach, but at least she’s got plenty of support for those who understand.
Hayley seems to be a big fan of meeting people by chance.
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Her Twitter account proves it.
She retweeted a story about a wrong number text that ended up blossoming into a fun friendship, proving that she’s friendly and willing to give anyone a chance to chat. We need more people like that in the world — people who understand that the universe is made up of so many interesting characters.
She’s also messaged with her number neighbor.
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You might not have heard about this viral experiment yet, but it’s legit.
You text the person with the number before or after you and see what they’re like. Some people have fun with it, while others can get a bit mean. No matter what, it’s putting yourself out there to meet someone in an unconventional way. The whole thing seems like it’s right up Hayley’s alley.
That means she’s willing to try again.
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A year after her story went viral, she tried again with another softball.
This time, she dated it. And, she underlined cute guys, meaning that she’s serious.
So if you happen to be at the beach and find a softball like this, just know that it’s legit and the person who bought it, marked it, and tossed it is a true believer in crazy connections.
