Observations as a Deacon while Passing the Sacrament

I turned 12 years old on September 17, 1979. My dad (Charles Bryce Jasperson) conferred the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained me to the office of Deacon on September 23, 1979. 

One of my first assignments was to pass the Sacrament during Junior Sunday School. (For those who do not know or remember, Junior Sunday School was held on Sundays before the three hour block schedule was instituted. It was not primary which was held on Wednesdays in my ward.) Our Junior Sunday School met on the stage for opening exercises. I remember the Deacon's advisor telling me to be careful to not fall off the stage while I passed the Sacrament. 

Once during Sacrament meeting, a young mother in our ward stood up with her fussy child at the back of the chapel in my assigned area to pass. I held the tray out to her. Her child was about 15 - 18 months old. She gave her child one of the water cups and then got a water cup for herself. While she was drinking the water, her child put the cup to his mouth took a sip, backwashed the water back into the cup, and then poured the water over the other cups in my water tray. It happened too fast for me to move the tray. So, several cups left on the tray received additional water from her child!

When I first started passing the sacrament, we used water trays that looked like the ones in the pictures I included below. These trays were used by the church with a set of reusable cups. The reusable cups were typically made of glass or metal. After taking the water, the member would then return the cup to one of the metal tubes on either side of the handle. 

tray for passing the water

tubes for returning used cups

I am not old enough to remember using the reusable cups. But I do remember trying to help members put the cups in the tubes in the same direction so that they would all fit.  

I was passing the water tray down the aisle. I had given the tray to the member on the end of the aisle who took the tray and passed it to the person sitting next to them. It was the first aisle that received the tray that day. In the middle of the aisle, an older brother was to receive the tray to pass to the next person. I am not sure why but this brother did not take the tray by the handle. Instead, he grabbed the tray by the side of the tray. Well, the tray does not have a bottom (see picture below). Thus, his fingers pushed all of the full water cups up and out of the holes, spilling the water all over his lap!

bottom view of the tray