Comments on: “Beyond the Gory�?

By: Anne Marie

Anne Marie — Mon, 16 May 2005 01:50:53 +0000

I’ve been enjoying your blog. I was wondering what the most calls you have had in one night? Have you ever just gone from one site to another?

By: rohin

rohin — Fri, 13 May 2005 23:38:52 +0000

i stumbled on your site…love the blog and i hope you can come over to my edge of the woods and leave your mark there — as i’m in a bit of a rush and can’t properly take the time to add your blog to my bookmarks. but this is the first time i’ve stumbled upon such a funereal blog and i’m enthralled. and i appreciate the modesty with which you write.

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 13 May 2005 22:01:16 +0000

If you had a regular 9-5 job you would be like the rest of us who keep coming back to your blog for an afternoon escape from the mundane

By: lucidly awake

lucidly awake — Thu, 12 May 2005 15:02:04 +0000

first time here.. cool blog… reminds me of Six Feet Under

By: Paolo

Paolo — Thu, 12 May 2005 03:29:07 +0000

Yet another excellent post. I, too, face the task of (but not always) getting up in the middle of the night and dealing with corpses. But it’s great that you are dedicated to your job, as most people, like you said, would’ve left it. Keep writing!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 12 May 2005 00:27:46 +0000

I know you don’t particularly like the hollywood versions of your career but I was interested in knowing what you thought about the HBO series Six Feet Under. Even though the storyline is based upon the life of a funeral home, there is still alot to do with the bodies themselves in preparation and dealing with restoration. From what knowledge I have they seem to keep things in a realistic perspective (dealing with rigormortis, old stinky bodies that weren’t found until weeks later, etc.). If you have watched any of the show I’d like to know your input about it. Thanks alot in advance and I’m glad you care to share your stories and experiences with inquiring minds.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 11 May 2005 21:08:34 +0000

I work in a mortuary, and I find that the paperwork side of the job tends to keep me busy on slower days. Is there alot of paperwork involved in your job? or do you just have others to handle all of that?

It is an odd feeling, the waiting about for death.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 11 May 2005 19:55:57 +0000

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. However, you may find it to be if you were like the rest of us
“normal” working drones. And maybe we would feel the same way should places be switched. I doubt most of us drones could do your work though…it takes a special kind of person.

By: Douglas

Douglas — Wed, 11 May 2005 14:47:05 +0000

I think this post inadvertantly ties in with alot of the comments I have been reading on your blog, those in the “Wow, I couldn’t do your job.” vein.

You clearly have a job and a role in society that needs to be performed–we can’t just leave the dead lying around. If your readers’ comments are a reflection of the populace at large it’s clear that most have no desire for such work. So, on a purely utilitarian level you do have a product at the end of the day, you have accomplished something. It may only seem that it was to keep things tidy around the city, once again allowing the rest of us to ignore death and tragedy for another day. But you have to know its more than that too.

If it was only about the bodies, you wouldn’t take the time to humanize your stories–which is what I find in your posts and what I have found others find as well. What you have been presenting us with these past months is more than a clinical run down of the facts. You have shown us humor, comedy, suffering, and sympathy.

That kind of breadth of experience is exactly what I find missing in my mundane 9-5 job. I pump souless papers across my desk, it’s not intriguing, it’s not worthwhile, and it’s not terribly satisfying for my heart.

I won’t argue that you haven’t become desensitized to both the grim and the sad aspects of the job, but I will assert that you have become desesitized at a depth that most of us won’t reach in our work.

Thanks for illuminating my understanding each week.

Douglas

By: Di

Di — Wed, 11 May 2005 08:33:22 +0000

I think that it is safe for me to say that unless you like the mundane, there is no way you would enjoy 9-5.