[nokita]

I think I saw a comment, perhaps 20 years ago, saying that this is an adaptation of a stand up comedy routine. A quick search has failed to confirm or refute this, and regardless of the origin it is (a) very funny, and (b) instructive.

But I suspect it shouldn't be taken as real, even if the lessons one can learn from it certainly are real, and it is all too plausible.

[SaintGhurka]

The comedian was Shelley Berman.

Edit: notice he signed each note "S. Berman"

[citelao]

Thanks to your comment, I was able to find a Snopes article:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hotel-soap/

It stated that this story is a work of fiction. Funny story, though! (And another instance of “this is so easy to verify, it couldn’t possibly be false!” which I think I need to be more wary of).

[TremendousJudge]

Yeah it has all the beats of one of those old email humor chains that would get forwarded back in the day.