On Monday, January 30, 2006 at 5:18:11 PM UTC-6, --Bryan wrote:
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> > On Sun 29 Jan 2006 12:12:35a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it cathyxyz?
> >
> > > I have attended a few funerals in my time and there has indeed been food
> > > and drink served at the "wake". However, after the service, I did not go
> > > to all my other friends and say "Wow, what great food they had at that
> > > funeral!." I don't even remember what they served at the last one I went
> > > to - it was for a young boy of 18 who had been killed by a drunk driver.
> > > All I remember is the incredible grief. That's what I find ghoulish. And
> > > IMHO, no matter how one dies it is ALWAYS a terrible thing for the ones
> > > left behind. I know that having a wake or whatever you want to call it
> > > is traditional in most religions; I don't have a problem with that - but
> > > I still feel that discussing the food served afterward, with strangers -
> > > who never even knew the deceased, is not something I can bring myself to
> > > do.
> >
> > I agree with you Cathy. Never until reading it here have I heard of people
> > going to a funeral anticipating what kind of food was going to be served,
> > much less writing a review of it afterward, and even comparing it to a host
> > of other funeral meals they've had. I guess if you read Usenet long
> > enough, you'll eventually hear everything. :-)
> Back in the early 80s this guy who I didn't know well, but had drank
> beer with a few times on the Riverfront in downtown St. Louis died
> after falling down an elevator shaft at a warehouse where there was an
> illegal party going on. I had gotten a ride to a party on Saturday,
> and unbeknownst to me, everyone else at the party had planned on going
> to the funeral the next day. As a rule, I don't do funerals because of
> corpses but I had no other choice unless I wanted to spend a shitload
> on a cab.
> The funeral was bizarre because Mike and his brother* were the only
> African Americans in the StL Punk scene, and the pallbearers were
> mostly White guys with big, green Mohawks and such, and the pews were a
> mix of Black folks in their Sunday finest and punk rockers dressed,
> well, like punk rockers.
> In the "Order of Service" pamphlet there was a thing that said "The
> Viewing of the Remains." Me and my two buddies were trying really hard
> not to crack up about that because the last thing we wanted to do was
> be disrespectful. Eventually it got to that part of the service, and
> we just let people squeeze by us to go up there to "view the remains."
> It became much more challenging when the minister looked right at the
> three of us and said, reaching out and up with his arms, "Everybody
> view the remains," then when he noticed we weren't budging he added,
> "If you wants to." It took all each of us had not to just lose it, but
> we all manged.
> On the way to the wake I was starved and I was trying to get my buddy
> to stop and at least go through the drive-through at Popeyes. I was
> practically begging him, but he wouldn't stop. Then I remembered it
> was an African American wake, and figured that it was pretty well
> certain I'd be served fried chicken. I wasn't disappointed.

> * A couple years later the guy's brother put out my wife's hair that
> had caught on fire. The rest of the wussyass punk rockers just backed
> away, but Marcus without hesitation grabbed her hair and put it out.
> This was about a year before I met her.
> >
Dave's funeral posts reminded me of this.
>
> > --
> > Wayne Boatwright
> --Bryan
>
--Bryan