Candlelight Vigil

Yesterday I arrived to work and the office door was closed. This has never happened before and I was a tad bit confused. However, it being 4 o'clock in the morning... I didn't give it a whole lot of thought, because most of my brain cells don't function well that early in the morning. So I typed in the code and stepped into a mostly dark office.

Dave, the supervisor of the other morning crew punched in a time card and handed it to me, and then my supervisor Eric quietly invited me to take a seat. Not at all surprised by the bizarre scene before me, I sat down amidst a couple rows of chairs facing a picture surrounded by at least 10-15 lit candles. Everyone in the office was sitting in silence, staring at the picture and the flames.

Now I know you are dying to know why the two morning crews at the Smith Fieldhouse Cleaning crew at BYU was were holding a candlelight vigil at 4 am. Perhaps you may even have a few good guesses in your mind regarding who was in the framed photograph we were looking at. Maybe you are just laughing at the image in your mind of me walking into the office, having no idea what was going on, and yet being perfectly ok with it.

As I sat there in the dim light, Eric moved to the front of the room, and took off his ball cap. Placing it against his chest, he announced in somber tones to the room that he knew we would appreciate this opportunity to reflect on the sad event which had occurred the previous afternoon: Brett Farve announced his retirement.

If you are football fan, you'll know that Brett Farve is the QB for the Minnesota Vikings. I only know this because of the constant football talk going on each morning at work, and because of the friendly debate about whether Brett Farve is better than QB Tom Brady.

Eric invited us to share our thoughts on the sad event... and in solem tones various die hard college football fans shared memories of favorite games, plays, and blue jean commericials.

It was my first candlelight vigil. I snickered through most of it. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Gotta love the silly things that happen when a body is crazy enough to work 4am!