As I neared the site, Larry met me and asked me in a very serious tone, “Please show respect for the departed and do not do anything to disrupt the service.” I am not one to disrespect anyone’s customs or beliefs so I simply nodded my head in agreement and stood to the side.
Larry pulled out a book from his satchel. A very thin book; It didn’t look like a bible at all. The tombstones on this site were all in order, the grass was beautifully trimmed and the plots looked like they were taken care by loved ones. I noticed one tombstone with no name. I would have expected something like John Doe, but instead it read “God knows his name.” I had never seen that before. Larry began reading from his book as the other crew bowed their heads down as if in church. I respectfully did the same, every so often, peeking up to see what was going on. Larry stood over each grave, asking for them to rest in peace, saying a few words from what little was known of them from their records. This went on for about 30 minutes. At the end, everyone smiled, shook each other’s hand, or embraced each other by the grandiose work. I truly believe they felt everyone was finallt at peace. The weird thing is they looked as if this was something personal. They sincerely took an interest in those that had departed while at the hospital. I was taken back a little by this.
Well, my year long struggle with the hospital beds came to an abrupt end. After that evening, we had not heard of one single bed showing any symptoms of phantom movements. The hospital even looked a little brighter. I knew this had to be in my head but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I did wonder as to why neither I, nor the manufacturer, could find a problem with the beds. It was a weird coincidence that they stopped malfunctioning immediately after that evening ceremony. Being a skeptic, and maybe a little bit of a conspiracist, I did wonder if the manufacturer had experienced these issues but chose not to disclose them until they could figure it out. They maybe wanted to avoid the cost of replacing all 77 beds in the new building. However, not all 77 beds were experiencing these phantom movements; only 11 beds. Coincidently, the same number of gravesites in the cemetery.