The Week of W(h)it: A Blooming Good Time

Jessie Gibbs is Whitney's former co-worker and friend, my friend, wife of a rock and roller, and queen of the Crocker Art Museum.

I met Whitney when she worked at the BYU Museum of Art. We worked in different rooms, side-by-side, separated by huge cinder block wall. To get to Whitney, we had to go through a security clearance door and down a narrow hallway; then you would find her working away on her Mac, listening to music, and eager to chat. 

On the day a huge opening was cut in the wall so the rooms were connected, it was like sunshine came to the museum basement. Suddenly, we had music, laughter, and Whitney! 

My favorite story about Whitney is the the time she and I replaced all the books on our boss’ bookshelf. The museum had a TON of copies of Art in Bloom given to the store as a gift. The books became out dated after years being stored. 

The museum had a contest to see which employees could give away the most books to good homes. During all this our boss took a trip to NY for work and was gone for two days. 

Whitney and I had a clever prank idea. We unloaded all the books off her entire wall of shelves onto a cart that barely worked and, after being loaded, was so heavy it could hardly move. It was such a struggle to move the cart that we were falling over laughing at ourselves, which made it even harder.

By the time we went upstairs to get the books to fill the shelves we were giggling and being so goofy that all the security guards were giving us weird looks but we never explained to anyone why we were hauling away an entire pallet of the giveaway books. 

Then we filled Emily’s entire office with the same copy of Art in Bloom on the bookshelf wall, Whitney crafted up a funny card to put on her desk, and we walked coworker after coworker into the office to see how long it would take them to notice our prank. 

The day leading up to when Emily returned was filled with waiting for someone new to come in so we could see their reaction, telling everyone’s reaction story over again to those who missed it, and continual laughter till finally Emily saw it herself! 

It was one of those activities that could only really be funny to do with the right person, and Whitney is always the right person to put a good stamp on a joke.

The Week of W(h)it is a collection of funny stories about my friend Whitney Hardie and the people she knows. Whitney's mother recently died and this project is a way to help her grieve through humor.