Thursday 12 March 2009

Zombies are Welcome

Missmarketcrash thanks everyone for sticking around this week whilst she was in mourning. Did you know I really did just spend six days sleeping in the same house as the corpse of my father-in-law? I must admit I am quite proud of myself for not running away howling in sheer terror. It was a very helpful thing for the other family members to have the corpse and I am pleased that it provided solace for them. And I did survive. Just.

My overactive imagination was not good company for the corpse. You may have been worrying about zombie banks whilst I was away, but, I was faced with visions of real zombies and kept one ear and one eye open whilst sleeping to be sure it did not walk about at night.

I did do a bit of research on the topic of keeping the deceased at home as I was admittedly caught off guard by this practice. It was reasonably common before death rituals became a part of the service industry. Scotland and Ireland are two places where bodies kept at home is still part of the norm. And, I am in Scotland, so this is all good. My overactive imagination aside, it seems a perfectly healthy and reasonable way to handle death. In fact, it is much more palatable than the commodification of death. While surfing this morning, I came across the National Museum of Funeral History which is located in Texas. Their website sums up the capitalistic tendencies of the industry with an on-line gift shop where one can purchase "Undertaker" brand spring water. The fantasy coffins from Ghana are worth a look. The museum takes marketing to an extreme and also offers chocolate coffins. They can even host corporate events. Any bank shareholder meetings looking for a venue? I am certain Zombies are welcome.

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