Around the holidays, we always enjoy reading stories in the news about moments of serendipity. During a time of year that is equal parts joyful and stressful, it can be a nice change of pace to hear about something that just went well for someone else.
In this case, the place is Alaska and the people are the lucky finders of a bevy of Yeti coolers that washed ashore one day..and continue to do so. The coolers were the unfortunate casualties of shipping containers that fell off a freight ship when it encountered rough seas last October.
Hundreds of coolers have been found, with mild damage on the outside but mint condition internally. They range in value from $250 – $750. Once they started to be found along the Pacific Northwest, lucky scavengers posted photos on social media that caught the attention of the company, which lost more than 1,600 in the incident. Yeti president Matt Reinjes simply says this, “We hope people will put these near-new Yetis to good use,” in an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Some Alaskan locals have turned the quest into a hobby, including one individual who has found 19 and counting.
Apparently, the containers also contained less exciting finds, including urinal mats, Chinese checkers, hair wax, refrigerators, inflatable toys, bike helmets and bottles of baby oil. And according to an oceanographer interviewed for the story, Yetis are likely to be found for the next 30 years based on the usual pathways of ocean currents.
Which begs the question, what would you most wish to find washed ashore?