The Funeral no one ever wants...!

So, imagine the grief and emotional pain which comes at any grave side service for the actual internment of the deceased. That is the moment the casket is lowered into the hole and the ceremonial passing into the next phase has begun.

What happens when you have a couple idiots with the maturity of Beavis and Butthead running the equipment? I think I've discovered the answer to that question and it happened recently to one family.

A Dallas funeral home botched a burial so badly the casket overturned and mourners were injured when they frantically jumped into the grave, a family claims in court.

Lead plaintiff Deborah Medellin sued Laurel Land Funeral Home and Cemetery, in Dallas County Court.

Jumped in, you may ask? Whatever could have happened, you wonder? ..and why would I be so hard on the workers? Well, lets see about some answers here.

While the moment of lowering began.......

"However, the belt holding the casket had not been properly attached to the said casket, and, without warning, began to slip," the complaint states. "This, in turn, caused the casket to fall violently into the plot and partially overturn.

Now accidents can happen. The world is an imperfect place and the best of systems fail from time to time. What happened next is what makes it a nightmare though....

At this time, the employees of the defendant apparently looked at each other, began to smirk and laugh, and ran from the premises leaving the family, friends and acquaintances in total disbelief and humiliating the family."

Source: Courthouse News

It's quite a way for a thing like that to end up. A couple workers heading for the horizon, unbelievably laughing as they ran away. I really cannot imagine the feeling as the family in this case.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


the funeral I do not want is my own

but to address the topic - every-one dies - so a certain number of funurary " incidents " are to be expected

OOPS - pressed send too soon

EDIT TO ADD :

while no rational person expect funeral staff to have a 100% success rate in every element of every funeral

a degree of professionalism and dignified damage limitation / resumption of service is expected

running away giggling because employees fooked up or equipment failed is unacceptable

At this time, the employees of the defendant apparently looked at each other, began to smirk and laugh, and ran from the premises leaving the family, friends and acquaintances in total disbelief and humiliating the family."

I'm not saying what they did was right. But they may have reacted in that manner because they were so shocked and embarrassed, especially if something like that had never happened before - which you don't expect it to!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

At this time, the employees of the defendant apparently looked at each other, began to smirk and laugh, and ran from the premises leaving the family

Wow. That's cold. I can't quite wrap my mind around that attitude or behavior.

Hopefully the two yahoo's who did this were immediately fired.

Classic....

I laughed even though I knew it was coming.

I wouldn't want anyone hurt....but, I hope the deceased had a sense of humor.

My grandchildren are very apt with electronics and computers.

I have asked then to hook me up in my casket so that when someone looks into my casket my hand will rise in a hello salutation and my mouth will move in a smile.

My friends would expect nothing less to go along with the rock band playing live music and the tables of finger foods and drinks.

It should be a happy time for me and my family as I sure suffer daily with illnesses.

I'm a big kidder so something has to be funny and interesting.

I think for myself, life experience as well as stories like this in one variation or another, have pretty much sold me on cremation. Nothing belief wise I'm aware of in my own chosen in life interferes with it and it's been a fairly common practice the world over for a very long time.

I'd rather not have a big procession of people gawking at my 'used to be alive' shell, anyway.. Just my personal thoughts.

Stories like this sure reinforce it though. What a horrible thing for the family (as I admit, the story itself is hard not to see some twisted black humor in.. errr). These little cretins that were working there left the Family with the impossible task of finishing the burial themselves or leaving it half done and going home.

I sure wouldn't want their karma... fate would be interesting for how that bit would roll back around some day.

I don't see them running away but believe it must be true if the courts are reporting that is the story. Did the staff have a side to tell. The woman in the background screaming - someone needs to calm her down (complete panic and terror spreads and people respond to that differently).

They sure don't look like morticians. They aren't dressed in suits - in all funerals I've been too all are dressed mournfully and not casually - even those lowering the casket. Strange scene altogether. Too bad they felt a need to escape the scene rather than confront it.

reply to post by Dianec

It's been years now but there was a show on for a brief time that featured people going through Funeral Home training and internship. It showed how they get a dark sense of humor as an emotional defense and that can progress into being downright callous for real, I imagine.

I suppose if they were terrible enough to run off, they were bad enough to have dressed without due respect as well. The only funeral I've attended in over 10 years was one I helped plan and it was Military Services. That sort of nonsense would never be tolerated, at least at the National Cemetery I've had contact with. Experience varies dramatically for places, apparently.