Specifically, me.  Where do I even start.....?

I work in the back corner (behind dividers) of a larger office in the Tech area of a University library.  I'm actually working for another company, too, so I'm not on any of the mailing lists for the building in which I work.  Nor do I have any form of official ID.  This will be important.

At 2:45 Friday, while I'm working diligently away, the lights go out.  Being in the middle of the building, with no nearby windows, it gets very, very DARK!  "Oh well", think I to myself, "at least the computer's still on, so I can keep working until they get the lights back."  Y'see I used to work in this building in years past; 20 years of years past, in fact.  Sporadic and odd power failures are not all that noteworthy.  I continue working.

After about 10 minutes I start thinking that the lights should probably have come back on by this time, so I phone the receptionist up front.  No answer.  Thinking she's just away from her desk dealing with the power problem, I decide to wander up there.  On my way I pass empty desk after empty desk.  Slowly the truth dawns.  They've all gone to a Christmas party and turned the lights out behind them.  Lovely.  Fortunately this part of the office has actual windows, so I can maneuver by the pale light of a winter's overcast late afternoon.  I return to my area and grope my way back to my desk (Note to self: extend time before monitor goes into powersaver mode and shuts off).  I start working again.

My phone rings, and the CFO from the main office downtown asks me to go up to the Administrative Offices, one floor up from where I'm sitting, diligently typing away in the dark, to pick up some cheques she's waiting for.  No problem.  I stumble out of my area, dimly lit by the glow of my monitor.  Are there cheques waiting when I get upstairs?  Of course not.  Oh well, back down to the darkness.  As I go through the door I glance to my right at the security panel beside the door.  Oh, lookee, a pretty little red light!  This means I will soon be receiving official visitors, so I should prepare myself.  I nearly make it back to my desk before the monitor once again goes into powersaver mode.

I phone the CFO and leave a voicemail explaining the lack of cheques, adding that if she doesn't call back soon there may be no answer as I appear to have tripped the security system when I went out, and I'm expecting Campus Security at any moment.  A few minutes later she phones back and says, "Wait a minute, I'm not finished laughing yet!"

Back to trying to type accurately by the glow of the monitor.  Now I'm a touch typist, but I find it nearly impossible to do this accurately if I can't see the keys to get set or to do anything along the top row, like $%^&!, which is about how I'm feeling by this time.  I then receive an e-mail from the CEO downtown (whose office is next to the CFO's so he probably wondered what all the cackling was about) suggesting I hide under the desk before the official visitors get here.  I contemplate this action briefly, then reluctantly reject it.  Bad enough being found sitting in the dark without also being under a desk which wouldn't actually hide me all that well.

I then notice the little red light on my phone indicating I have a message.  It looks very pretty in the darkness; I admire it for a moment before pulling the phone within the sphere of monitor-glow so I can see the keypad to retrieve the message.

As I'm beginning a technical support call, long distance of course, I see the light from two flashlights bouncing around the ceiling and hear quiet talking.  I ask the nice person on the phone to please wait because something odd is happening.  Two flashlight-wielding fellas from Campus Security come around the divider.  They ask me for my campus ID.  I try to explain the convoluted logic of my job.  They look at me askance and ask if I have any ID at all.  I hand over my driver's license, on which I look like a pissed-off panda.  He reads my name into his mic.  Apparently I now have a file in the Campus Security offices.  Probably under the heading "Crazy Lady Sitting in Dark" or "Looks Like Pissed Off Panda".

The nice officer then asks me to try out my old security code, from the aforementioned years past, on the panel to see if it still works.  It doesn't.  He then explains that he has to re-arm the system and can't just leave me there in the dark, unarmed.  I return to the phone, somewhat amazed that the poor guy I was helping is still waiting patiently.  I explain the situation and apologize, telling him that I'll have to phone back on Monday.  He laughs and explains that while he was waiting he'd managed to solve the problem himself.  He wishes me a good weekend.  I then phone my boss, the aforementioned CEO, to explain all this.  He too laughs and wishes me a good weekend. I scurry around gathering my stuff and shutting down my computer while the lights flash on and off as the CS constable plays with any light switches he can find.

Finally I'm ready to go.  Got my stuff, got everything shut down, and the lights are now on steadily so I won't cripple myself on the way out after turning off my monitor.  They turn off the lights, arm the system, and then walk out of the building with me.  I get about 20 feet outside the doors and realize I'm still wearing my backless indoor shoes with little footy socks.  My winter boots are under my desk in the office.  We've had 10 cm of snow in the past 2 days.  I can't go back to get my boots because I'd set off the security system... again.

It was a cold walk home.