MYOB
I got a call today from a woman who was bothered that there were solar lights being used in a part of the cemetery that is the older part, going back to the 16 and 1700's. She felt it wasn't, I don't know, historical, to use solar lights in that section. (these are on modern graves, not the old ones) She wanted to know if we had a policy about solar lights. I told her no. I said to her that technically, it isn't historical that we mow the cemetery all summer. That what we should do is burn it once a year like they used to. She thought I was being extreme. Well, yeah, I am. But in all seriousness. WTF?
A: The only real purpose of a cemetery is to dispose of dead bodies so they don't stink up the place and spread disease. Memorization is secondary. Cemeteries are basically, at the heart of it, body dumps.
B: The second purpose of a cemetery is to memorialize. It gives a family a place to go and grieve and remember. Now, you don't really need a cemetery for this, you can create a memorial anywhere, a shrine if you will. You see them all over the roads where there are no bodies. But if you have a place where the body is, why, it's convenient to make the shrine there.
C: The third thing a cemetery is, is it's a historic landmark. It holds history in the people that are buried there. It can be useful to genealogist, or people interested in the lives of those that have gone before.
D: Its' open space. A place to walk, think, reflect, rest, walk your dog, jog, picnic, bird watch, photograph. It can be a habitat for wildlife.
Now, what, can I please ask, will allowing people to have solar lights on their graves have to do with destroying any of the above mentioned purposes of a cemetery? I mean, does this woman seriously have so much time on her hands that she has to bother me about solar lights? If you were to wake the old patriots and ask them what most bothered them about the 21'st century, do you really think solar lights in a graveyard would be anywhere near the top of their list?
We have rules for planting at the cemetery. We have those rules only for functionality. We need access to certain areas, people only own certain spaces. We need to be able to mow and dig without too much difficulty. Therefor, some conformity is required. But we are also very liberal. Because as I said, one of the main reasons for a cemetery is a place for people to grieve, and people grieve in their own way. Some people go overboard, and they'd bring the kitchen sink to the grave if they could, which would be ugly, awkward, and out of place. Of course if they incorporated a kitchen sink into their gravestone somehow that would be within the size restrictions of the lot, then well, that's another story. We could probably work with that.
But generally, people do what they want in their space and there is no problem. Eventually, as the years go by, they come by less and less, and there is less and less to deal with. Perhaps the graves of the patriots were once adorned with trinkets and flags and flowers. But not anymore. This too shall pass.
The precursor to the solar light was the candle lit Vigil light. It had a candle that had to be replaced every week. For a while, in the new sections, you could go by at night and see many red lights in the cemetery. Not anymore. Too few people come by that often. But now with the advent of cheap solar lights (A few dollars at Walmart will get you one) everyone can have an eternal light on their grave. Well, eternal as long as the battery lasts.
Which is a good point. If John F. Kennedy can have an eternal flame, why cant the peons get their version?
So as the Superintendent said. "Why don't these people just mind their own Goddamn business?!"
A: The only real purpose of a cemetery is to dispose of dead bodies so they don't stink up the place and spread disease. Memorization is secondary. Cemeteries are basically, at the heart of it, body dumps.
B: The second purpose of a cemetery is to memorialize. It gives a family a place to go and grieve and remember. Now, you don't really need a cemetery for this, you can create a memorial anywhere, a shrine if you will. You see them all over the roads where there are no bodies. But if you have a place where the body is, why, it's convenient to make the shrine there.
C: The third thing a cemetery is, is it's a historic landmark. It holds history in the people that are buried there. It can be useful to genealogist, or people interested in the lives of those that have gone before.
D: Its' open space. A place to walk, think, reflect, rest, walk your dog, jog, picnic, bird watch, photograph. It can be a habitat for wildlife.
Now, what, can I please ask, will allowing people to have solar lights on their graves have to do with destroying any of the above mentioned purposes of a cemetery? I mean, does this woman seriously have so much time on her hands that she has to bother me about solar lights? If you were to wake the old patriots and ask them what most bothered them about the 21'st century, do you really think solar lights in a graveyard would be anywhere near the top of their list?
We have rules for planting at the cemetery. We have those rules only for functionality. We need access to certain areas, people only own certain spaces. We need to be able to mow and dig without too much difficulty. Therefor, some conformity is required. But we are also very liberal. Because as I said, one of the main reasons for a cemetery is a place for people to grieve, and people grieve in their own way. Some people go overboard, and they'd bring the kitchen sink to the grave if they could, which would be ugly, awkward, and out of place. Of course if they incorporated a kitchen sink into their gravestone somehow that would be within the size restrictions of the lot, then well, that's another story. We could probably work with that.
But generally, people do what they want in their space and there is no problem. Eventually, as the years go by, they come by less and less, and there is less and less to deal with. Perhaps the graves of the patriots were once adorned with trinkets and flags and flowers. But not anymore. This too shall pass.
The precursor to the solar light was the candle lit Vigil light. It had a candle that had to be replaced every week. For a while, in the new sections, you could go by at night and see many red lights in the cemetery. Not anymore. Too few people come by that often. But now with the advent of cheap solar lights (A few dollars at Walmart will get you one) everyone can have an eternal light on their grave. Well, eternal as long as the battery lasts.
Which is a good point. If John F. Kennedy can have an eternal flame, why cant the peons get their version?
So as the Superintendent said. "Why don't these people just mind their own Goddamn business?!"