Over the weekend I got a very sad voicemail. A co-worker's father passed away on Friday. The wake was on Monday night in Flushing, and the funeral on Tuesday morning in Great Neck. I have no car, so Great Neck was too far away. Flushing, however, was close enough. The co-workers and the boss came along as well, and we met up with my former boss and another co-worker. We said our condolences, had a seat, and then it began. I forgot to warn my co-workers that probably there would be a long drawn out Korean half Mass. There was. An entire hour of Korean, with the requisite Catholic chanting and whatnot. Now, I've become nearly immune to this, as I spent many a Sunday (and am planning to start spending a few new Sundays too) doing this. But my co-workers were completely unprepared. They wanted to put their eyes out. Welcome to my world. Anyhow, after all the events are done, and all the co-workers race for the hills, I have a nice chat with the family and look at all the pictures. The General (I think he was actually an admiral, but then some facts don't quite jibe) looked quite the peaceful. The family was reserved in their grief. The mourners were similarly restrained. And afterwards, there was a dinner at the Korean restaurant next door. It was a typical Korean event. The bad part is that you really can't tell how the family is handling the tragedy. You're never too sure how much help to give. It's one of those tricky boundries of "face" and tradition. I usually choose to back off, as it is often the safest course, not that the rules really apply, as everyone is painfully aware how much of a twinkie I am. I hope my co-worker (another former boss) is OK.