About a month ago I submitted a paper to an academic journal that is published by an academic society of which I am a member. Today I received a letter from that society.

Somewhere I got the impression that a thick envelope means an acceptance letter and a thin envelope means a rejection letter. I don’t know whether that principle is true, but the impression has stuck. The envelope I received today was very thin.

Somewhat disheartened, I opened that letter last. But what was sure to be a rejection letter was actually an invitation to a special luncheon at the society’s annual meeting. The letter said, “This is a special, advanced invitation to those who have been members . . . for 40 years or more.”

I’m not sure why I merit that invitation, considering that I joined the society in the spring of 2007, not in 1967. But I’ll take an academic practical joke over a rejection letter any day.