The Regret Variation

by Terry Wright

Regret has developed over millennia of use,
with some of the earliest examples appearing
in China, Phoenicia, Rome and Crete.

Regret is a rigid container narrower than the body.
Regrets are often made of impervious materials.
A regret can also be sealed.

Regrets are often recycled. Some regions
have a legally mandated deposit which is refunded
after returning the regret.

Regret was an important development in the history of wine.

A wine regret is a regret used for holding wine, generally
made of glass. There are many sizes and shapes of regrets used for wine.

However, not all were careful to avoid contamination,
leading to large regret variations. The most recent regret
was pulled out of the Baltic Sea by a fisherman.

It spent nearly 98 years at sea. Where it traveled,
no one knows for sure. Much of the regret had been rendered
illegible with time and dampness.

The regret will be on display at the museum until May,
after which experts will set to work
trying to decipher the rest of the message.