Looking on the bright side

Let there be light!!! Whoa, baby, it's bright in here!


An entire bank of lights went out in my office one day last week.

It might not have mattered so much – tolerable, anyway – had the set of four fluorescent bulbs not been right above my desk.

This caused a rather significant eclipse on that side of the room.

It made it difficult to read anything at my desk. I’m no Abraham Lincoln. I not adept at reading by candle light.

I do keep a candle in my office, but it’s not exactly the reading variety. It’s scented, and when it wafts through my open door, it makes one side of the newsroom smell like crème brulee, which is a good thing.

Not only did I have to strain to see what I was reading, it was also difficult to tell what I was writing. Although my job is to spread a little sunshine when I let my words go, I guess there’s a dark side to my writing, after all.

When Reggie Mays, who works in building services, showed up to replace the bulbs, he started counting the worn-out bulbs in the other three light panels.

1…2…3…7…8…9.

Nine of the 16 bulbs in the room were out. I had no idea I was operating under half-wattage.

Call me a dimwit, with an emphasis on the “dim.’’

“Do you want me to replace these, too?’’ Reggie asked.

Now that they have been replaced, I not only go to work every day, I glow.

There is so much wattage in this room I feel like I’m in a tanning booth.

If I get any more bright ideas, I’ll let you know.