Every party, he stands alone, in viewing them the rest...

Last night, I went to a viewing. A coworker’s son was killed in a car crash over the weekend. He was 27. I also knew him slightly through my work. At any rate, viewings are not pleasant situations, obviously. Nor ones associated with hilarity. But naturally, at this one something happened that cracked me up. (And I mean no disrespect to the deceased or his family, I am actually pretty upset about all that.)

I went with two other coworkers, Shannon and John. We all three walked in at the same time. Off to our left was the majority of the room and at the end of it, the casket. To our right was the back wall, with some chairs, sofas, etc set up along it. These were filled with young men and a young woman, all in their 20s. They were friends of deceased, and I don’t think they said a single word the entire time we were there.

So the three of us go up, view the casket, and then offer our condolences to the mother and step father. We kinda milled about then a bit as the step father, who’s also a co-worker, took us aside and talked to us a bit. During this, Shannon, suddenly just walks back to the girl sitting at the back of the room. She bends down and gives the girl a big hug, says a few words and then comes back to the two of us (the step-father having gone back to his wife).
John asked her, “Who was that?” And she said, “It was Katie.” Katie is the sister of the deceased. “She was back there all alone, and no one was comforting her, and I thought someone should acknowledge her suffering.” John asked what they talked about and Shannon said, “I just hugged her and told her if she needed anything, anything at all, to just let me know.” “And what did she say?” John asked. “She said okay. Why?”

And John told her that he didn’t think that was Katie. And Shannon was like, “Of course that’s Katie. She’s the right height, and skinny, and has that long brown hair in a ponytail.” So John conceded it probably was, cause he didn’t know Katie that well.
And of course, at just that moment, Katie, the real Katie, walked in. Shannon’s eyes bugged out and she kinda murmured “K…K…Katie?” And John snickered, and I had to leave the room.

Oh man, did we laugh about this all the way home. I’m still chuckling just trying to imagine what that girl, the Not Katie thought when Shannon was saying all that too her.

POLT Listening to "Birdhouse In Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants