During my middle school years, I served as a candle lighter with a lifelong friend at the First Methodist Church in Green Bay Wisconsin. Every Sunday we would don a robe similar to the one below and take turns lighting the candles on the alter at the beginning of the service with the other extinguishing them at the end. In between, there had roughly 45 minutes.

The thought of listening to hymns and sermons was just not our cup of tea at that age. Armed with a recently acquired driver’s license, he and I get a 10¢ coke out of the basement coke machine and quickly drove to a nearby miniature golf course to get in a few holes.

Trouble was that one day we were a just little late getting back. It was my turn to extinguish, so I quickly threw on my church robe not realizing I had failed to put the sash over one shoulder leaving it dangling over my back. I went out and put out the candles, embarrassing my parents and myself once I realized my mistake.

Fortunately, mom and dad attributed it to laziness and to carelessness and we were never discovered.