Because I could not stop for Death...

Soooooo....I'm driving home from dropping off brownies at my mechanic's (Yes. I pay my mechanic with food. You have to be creative when you're poor.) and I come across a funeral procession. Now, these things have always interested me. Supposedly, this is what I got from my mom growing up, you're supposed to pull over so the procession doesn't get broken up and to make the Sign of the Cross in the person's memory...even if you didn't know them... Mmmmhmmmm. A Roman Catholic thing, I suppose. But why the procession in the first place? An article by Grant McKenzie says it's

"an organized, dignified, solemn and respectful parade for the purpose of conveying the deceased and mourners from the place of service to the cemetery or crematorium for a committal service."

Understood. But do you think the dead person cares whether there's a parade or if everyone just meets up at the cemetery/crematorium? Probably not. Why? Because he's dead. When I die you can all ride in on giraffes for all I care. I suppose in a rural town a procession makes sense. In a city, though, it's a recipe for disaster...



I saw a funeral procession-ee run a red light to keep up with the group. Yeah. Not safe. Again back to McKenzie's article:

"In the past, most police officers have turned a blind eye to funeral processions proceeding unencumbered through intersections against red lights or without all cars stopping at stop signs. This is clearly illegal and an unsafe practice and has resulted in the occasional accident and regrettably some deaths."

Hmmm...death by funeral procession...that'd make a good headstone. And I think the police have started charging for escort service...although I couldn't find the cost anywhere...so that's probably an option for most. There really wasn't a point to this...you basically just got to hear my brain out loud. Oh! And I want a Viking funeral or to be crushed into a diamond...something cool like that.

So, yeah. I think that's all the gas (haha...get it? Funeral procession...cars...gas...) I have for this particular blog post. I'll be back when something else stupid or annoying happens...

Quotes: How Safe are Funeral Processions? By Grant McKenzie
(yes, I looked up funeral processions. You're surprised?)

Photo: Carthedral Hearse
(and I looked up hearses! C'mon people...you should know me by now!)

Title from: Victorian Poetry about Death
(oh, yeah...I also looked up Victorian death poetry. I'm on a research bender!)