One morning at work, the electricity went out, leaving us to work in a shadowy twilight. I asked our receptionist to dig out the candles from last year’s Christmas decorations and put one on each desk.

A little later, the receptionist appeared in my doorway, sheltering a flickering light in her hands. “Now I know why life moved at a slower pace in the olden days,” she remarked.

“Because there were no computers?” I replied, knowing how hampered we were without them.

“No,” she answered, “because if you move too fast, your candle goes out!”