My friend David Wenzel, who is inspiring all of us who know him right now, found out just last week that he has a tumor in his brain. He hit his head while at a conference in San Francisco, and was later taken to the hospital, where they discovered the tumor. Had he not hit his head, the tumor would most likely have gone undetected. Dave is a special guy. Everybody who meets him loves him. He’s remarkably creative and has probably been involved in some of your favorite media productions. So it shocked (and a little scared, to tell you the truth) us to hear that such a brilliant young mind had a tumor in it.
One of the reasons we all love Dave is because when a situation becomes tense, Dave becomes calm. He’s a rock. Not that he has to be, because he doesn’t, but he’s just been there for a lot of people, and it’s nice for those of us to know him to be there for him now. Anyway, Dave is now at the Mayo clinic in Minnesota, but I thought you might appreciate the response letter he wrote the hotel he stayed at in San Fran when they contacted him about forgetting to take a survey regarding his stay:
Dear David,
Recently, we sent you an invitation to complete a Guest Satisfaction Survey concerning your stay with us at Sofitel San Francisco Bay, where you checked out on June 07, 2009.
We noticed that you did not have time to complete the survey. We are concerned that you may not have responded because we have somehow failed to live up to your expectations.
At Sofitel, we are committed to providing a superior guest experience to each and every one of our customers. Please take a few minutes to tell us how well we met your expectations.
Thank you again for choosing Sofitel, and I look forward to hearing about your stay with us.
Sincerely,
Christophe Julliard
Vice President Quality and Planning
Accor Business and Leisure Hotels North America
—
Dear Christophe,
I apologize for not completing my Guest Satisfaction Survey upon my check-out on June 7, 2009. However, you are indeed correct that I did not respond as I lacked ample time to complete the survey. Around checkout time on the 7th, I hurriedly exited the hotel in an ambulance.
Please do not be concerned that you have somehow failed to live up to my expectations. In fact the opposite is true! You have exceeded them! While I was staying at your hotel, your Cancer Detection System worked like a charm. After years of being completely unaware, your hotel helped me discover a pesky tumor that had been growing in my brain for years. Had I not stayed at your hotel, it is completely possible I never would have made use of this detection tool! (To clarify, by tool I mean the concrete slab in your hotel bar that I smacked me head on). Expectations = Exceeded! In addition, I enjoyed your in-house olive bread and pesto sauce. And that means quite a bit because I typically am not a fan of pesto.
However, I do feel obligated to tell you that in the moments after my grand-mal seizure while being wheeled through your lobby on a stretcher (once again the hurry I mentioned), I did notice that there were some leaves that had blown into the pool. As a VP of Quality and Planning, I imagine this would fall below your standards. I assume when I return to your hotel next time, this matter will be taken care of.
Regards,
David Wenzel
Hotel Guest – Room 607; June 1-7, 2009
DAVE, WE LOVE YOU. PRAYING STILL…(Feel free to leave Dave comments below!)
That may be the most excellent response to one of those emails…EVER.
Dave, sending you healing thoughts. ‘Cause you already have all the awesomeness covered.
A sense of humor is crucial in dealing with lifes unexpected hiccups. David, don’t stop laughing, even when things get really weird! My cancer, which I beat, was never too scary to laugh at, and I am convinced it helped. I will be praying for you!
hahahahahaha
HAAAAA! Ah Dave, un repondre parfait à Monsieur Christophe Juillard. He could have called him a tête du fromage ou tête-merde. But he kept it classy. I hope he invites Dave back, sans tumor, to enjoy the pool sans feuilles. WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU, DAVE!
amazing.
Dave — you are officially one of the most excellent people I’ve ever heard of. That letter is absolutely inspired! I simply cannot tolerate leaves in a swimming pool. haha
God bless, and my prayers are with you for good health and speedy recovery.
well done!
Utter brilliance.
I’m thinking healing thoughts for you, Dave!
I don’t know what to say other than I am extremely moved by this. All of it.
This guy is my new hero. Praying for you brotha.
sn
Beautiful! It’s people like Dave that make me come back to the fact that we can live with a positive outlook on life no matter what circumstances come our way! I bet there were only 3 leaves in the pool!
Grace and peace you hotel mofos! go david go!
i know who david is through his wife, amy, who is a fellow photographer. these two are amazing people, and i am praying peace and mercy for them daily.
the note made me laugh out loud! but also–wow, heavy stuff. may God’s grace surround you, dave.
priceless – laughter really is great medicine. David, praying for healing for you. You’ve given me (and many others) a touch of healing as we laughed at this letter, may healing come back to you a zillion-fold.
This will help you determine what each doctor’s field of practice is – Doctors’ Handshakes:
Cardiologist
Left hand on your wrist, feeling pulse
Dermatologist
Wears latex glove
Gynecologist
Index and middle fingers extended
Pediatrician
Thumb extended
Psychiatrist
Grasps his own hand
Thanks for sharing don! Thank God for DAvid’s humor…seriously though, I was drinking tea and this story almost made my tea come out of my nose…
Dave, since you’re in a fun-loving mood over the whole shebang, you might keep an eye out for “Cave-On” (sp?) at Mayo. The last I knew, this former gymnast and spotter was a doctor there. A fun-loving guy himself, he studied and competed at Gustavus Adolphus, where his friend, my former coach also studied and competed, and where some of her team (including me) went for training. Ask him to do a standing full back for you. (That’s a back flip with a full twist thrown in for added excitement. Yes, he can…or he could in the mid-80s.) He’ll be thrilled that you asked, and you might brighten each other’s day.
Dave, you’re funny. God Bless You.
I would love to be a fly on the wall as Christophe read David’s response. Hilarious.
I’ll be praying.
Dude, hilarious! We’re prayin’ for you!
Hey Don,
I don’t really know if you will read this. You don’t even know me. I’m just an Brazilian guy trying to thank you for make me laugh and sometimes cry when I’m reading Blue Like Jazz… I’m in college now, living alone far away from my parents, my friends and my church. And this days I’ve been feeling so weak, like I’ll fall down and sin in any moment. I really would like to have a friend like you, someone to open my heart and confess and laugh about this life. But that’s all I can do by now. Thank you so much!
Wesley, I too was a foreign exchange student and know that can be a very lonely experience. I’m writing to encourage you that it can also be a very unique opportunity to develop a closer-than-ever relationship with Jesus. Although you have a good command of your host country’s language, I did not. But fortunately, God understood my native-tongue very well. So, our conversations were good for confession and laughing and all sorts of sharing. God wants to have this kind of closeness with you too. You’ve found a good book to also keep you company. In addition to the Bible (The Message might be a good option), I recommend this one: The Prodigal God, which might greatly aid you in your quest to draw closer to God. May God grace you with a place within a good Christian community of friends.
That has to be, by far, the best response ever! Thanks for posting that. It totally made my day dude. And I was having a bad one till now.
I hope we get to read the follow-up letter that the hotel is certain to send! This is a great story!
He was right about the leaves. I hate leaves! –Robbie
Dave, I am so grateful people like you exist in this world. You make the world a much better place, and I am praying for you right now. Grace, grace, grace to you. – Christy Tennant
Last paragraph…absolutely priceless. Loved it.
I will keep David, his family, friends, and the physicians, nurses and specialists in charge of his care in prayer. And I am grateful for God’s good and gracious care for his beloved child.
This was so quality. Thank you David and Donald, this needed to be shared with the world!
This is brilliant. Dave — glad to see (read) the tumor hasn’t lessened your sense of humor. Still praying for you!
Hi David,
I happened to be doing research on fun and entertaining ways to get people to fill out a survey, and I stumbled on your site. I feel compelled to tell you that I am praying for you and hope that you are soon healed. My husband did a “cannon ball” off a very tall rock on the New River in WVA a year ago and ripped the rotator cuff in his shoulder. A couple of months later, after surgery, he had pain in his chest. Thinking he had ripped something in the surgical area, we went to the hospital – only to discover he had a huge tumor in his chest that had been growing quietly for years. If he had not been showing off with the cannon ball, and had not had the shoulder surgery, he likely would have dismissed the pain (being the stoic athlete). God works in strange ways. His malignant tumor is gone; chemo is done; and radiation is almost over. He is free again! I know you will be careful of your head in bar areas in the future, and I doubt he will return to cannon balls from high places. God bless you.