Evolving etiquette #2

[bellinghman]

We walked past the newer 'shrine' on Saturday morning, and had a closer look. I now have another question. Why do people put in them what they do?

a) Flowers. OK, that's what we expect - they're a symbol of the fleeting nature of life.

b) A reproduction road sign, for Stamford Bridge. OK, that has meaning, the dead teenager was a Chelsea fan.

c) Cans of Red Bull and bottles of Lucozade. Hmm, well, there is a long history of libatory drinks, and given the driver was apparently drunk, alcoholic ones would have been inappropriate.

d) A shrink wrapped ball of string.

Yes, you read that right. A ball of string, still in its polythene wrapping.

Perhaps that last one just fell out of a shopping bag while the owner was laying something else.

Comments

[autopope.livejournal.com]

I just got a click through on this entry: "You are about to view material that may be unsuitable for minors" as an LJ-cut, followed by a page with an "I am over 14" confirmation dialog. Have you designated your LJ as adult-only?

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

It's set as 'contains adult concepts' because I don't want to have to restrict discussion to subjects suitable for under 14 year olds. Also, the odd 'fuck' may appear.

On the other hand, so long as you're logged in as you, LJ shouldn't be showing you that dialog, because it should know you're over 14.

I think the LJ servers may be failing to handle cookies correctly on occasion, because it often does the same to me with other people's journals.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I got logged out of LJ this morning while in mid-session -- warning's gone when I logged back in again.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Maybe the string was something meaningful to the deceased, perhaps it was an in-joke or he was famed for making something with string. I've been watching Six Feet Under again recently and you sometimes see the grieving mourners put things into the coffin. Someone I knew through larping died recently, aged just 21, and he was to have a real sword and a larp sword in his coffin - probably incomprehensible to a lot of people, but it would have meant something to him and it meant something to the people who placed it there.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

I suppose it could be. On the other hand, I suspect we'll never know.

[lagilman]

this is where the writer picks up the idea, goes "hrmm" thoughtfully, and tucks it away for later use....

(my first thought: did the deceased have a cat?)

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

I suspect not, though I can't be sure. A football mad 16 year old who likes being out with his mates at 01:00 strikes me as not really matching the right profile, though it's possible his family does have one originally got because he wanted one as a child.

[lagilman]

hah. Don't tell my sports-mad, night-owl nephew he's not supposed to adore his cat....

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Heh - point taken. People are more varied than any stereotype schema can capture.