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Where I’ve Been – Travel Brain
46 cities in 11 countriesAsiaSouth Korea: SeoulThailand: BangkokThailand: Chiang MaiEuropeBelgium: BrusselsFrance: Le HavreFrance: NiceFrance: ParisGermany: BerlinGermany: DresdenGermany: ErlangenGermany: Frankfurt am MainGermany: HardheimGermany: MarktheidenfeldGermany: MunichGermany: NurnbergGermany: TauberbischofsheimGermany: WertheimHoly See (Vatican City): Vatican CityItaly: RomeItaly: VeniceLuxembourg: LuxembourgNetherlands: AmsterdamUnited Kingdom: LondonNorth AmericaUnited States: Ann ArborUnited States: AnnistonUnited States: AustinUnited States: CelinaUnited States: CherokeeUnited States: ClevelandUnited States: ColumbusUnited States: GettysburgUnited States: JasperUnited States: MandanUnited States: MetairieUnited States: MiamiUnited States: NashvilleUnited States: New OrleansUnited States: Oil CityUnited States: PittsburghUnited States: RedmondUnited States: RestonUnited States: San FranciscoUnited States: San JoseUnited States: SeattleUnited States: ShermanUnited States: Washington
The Best and The Worst
It’s said that a funeral will bring out the best and the worst in people. I was amazed at some of the folks who came to pay their respects to my dad when he passed. There were people I hadn’t seen in years, and folks who I know it was physically painful for them to come out on that September evening. But they came.
I’ve also seen fights break out at viewings and funerals. People choose some incredibly poor moments to make public some monumentally stupid event from the deceased’s past. Sometimes they decide now is the best time to let Aunt Susie know how much Dad hated her, or how Grandpa never forgave Uncle Joey for some slight. Family members start worrying about the estate, and who’s going to get what, and how that person doesn’t deserve anything, because they were never around for Dad, and Dad’s not even in the ground yet. It’s amazing and yet not, all at the same time.
Funeral directors (they prefer that over “mortician.” Honest.) in Cincinnati are noticing more problems with arguments and violence at funerals. I haven’t seen too many issues like that here in Columbus, but I suppose it’s coming.
Dial 911 and Die
Over 40 years ago, Jeff Cooper coined the word “hoplophobe,” meaning a “mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons.” I’d like to coin a new word, pertaining to the irrational dependence on protection orders, restraining orders, and the 911 emergency system. There needs to be such a word for people who think that a court order is going to stop someone who is bound and determined to kill them, or that all they have to do is call 911, because the people there will always protect you. Not.
Raven’s Beak on Flickr
