John Lewis the store has sent John Lewis the man a special Christmas hamper

John Lewis is just an ordinary computer science professor from Blacksburg, Virginia. He's a father of four who for most of the year just gets on with his normal everyday life.

However, every Christmas, something changes – something a little magical happens. No, John Lewis isn't Santa, but he definitely deserves to be some sort of saint. This is because, as you might have realised, he shares a name with a certain UK department store – one which is just a little bit famous for it's annual Christmas advert. And more than just share a name, he is also the proud owner of the @johnlewis Twitter handle, AKA the one every British consumer with some kind of complaint, question or innocent message would assume belongs to the store – @johnlewisretail.

Rather than get pissed off with the incessant messages or give up his handle, John painstakingly replies to every single person who mistakes him for a giant department store, and he could not be more kind or polite about it.

This has been going on for years and years – by now John is very used to being congratulated for a Christmas advert he didn't create or being blamed for a chest of drawers which hasn't turned up yet, but this year it's all paid off for him.

This afternoon, John Lewis the man tweeted to say that John Lewis the company had sent him a special, personalised Christmas hamper, to say thank you for his years of patient, tireless work. https://twitter.com/johnlewis/status/798539700625690624 They sent him an embroidered Union Jack cushion with his Twitter handle and "not a retail store" stitched onto it – something John has in his bio to inform potential customers. https://twitter.com/johnlewis/status/798540205875662849 And they also sent him the stuffed toys from this year's advert, as a pack of Christmas crackers, some tree decorations and some wrapping paper. They say nice guys finish last, but not any more – nice guys finish with a personalised cushion, three teddy bears and some Christmas ornaments.

We love you John, keep being a modern-day hero.