Canadian Hotel Forgives Guest 17 Years After Flock Of Seagulls Trashed His Room

Canadian(kəˈnādiən) Hotel Forgives Guest 17 Years After Flock(fläk) Of Seagulls(ˈsēˌgəl) Trashed(traSH) His Room

By Scott Neuman

No, not the English new-wave band A Flock of Seagulls.

It’s the ubiquitous(yo͞oˈbikwətəs) seaside birds that deserve(dəˈzərv) at least part of the blame(blām) for getting Nova(ˈnōvə) Scotian Nick(nik) Burchill blacklisted at the Fairmont Empress(ˈempris) hotel in Victoria(vikˈtôrēə), Canada(ˈkanədə), one fateful(ˈfātfəl) day in 2001.

Burchill had planned to send a suitcase(ˈso͞otˌkās) full of pepperoni(ˌpepəˈrōnē) to his buddies(ˈbədē) in the Canadian navy(ˈnāvē). Writing on Facebook, he recounts that he decided to leave it near an open window so the chilly(ˈCHilē) air would keep the meats fresh.

“I remember walking down the long hall(hôl) and opening the door to my room to find an entire flock of seagulls in my room,” Burchill said in a recent letter(ˈletər) of apology to the 4-star hotel. “I didn’t have time to count, but there must have been 40 of them and they had been in my room, eating pepperoni for a long time.”

“They immediately started flying around and crashing into things as they desperately(ˈdespəritlē) tried to leave the room through the small opening by which they had entered,” said Burchill, who lives in Dartmouth. “The result was a tornado(tôrˈnādō) of seagull excrement(ˈekskrəmənt), feathers(ˈfeT͟Hər), pepperoni chunks(CHəNGk) and fairly(ˈfe(ə)rlē) large birds whipping around the room.”

Older and wiser now, Burchill chalked(CHôk) up the incident(ˈinsidənt) to youthful(yo͞oTHfəl) indiscretion(ˌindiˈskreSHən).

“I have matured(-ˈt(y)o͝or,məˈCHo͝or) and I admit(ədˈmit) responsibility for my actions,” he said in the letter. “I come to you, hat(hat) in hand, to apologize(əˈpäləˌjīz) for the damage(ˈdamij) I had indirectly(ˌindəˈrektli) come to cause and to ask you to reconsider(ˌrēkənˈsidər) my lifetime ban from the property.”

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https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/04/599363657/canadian-hotel-forgives-guest-17-years-after-flock-of-seagulls-trashed-his-room