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

[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.