BLOBBY'S BLOG

Is Death Funny?

Kind of. Sometimes. And in the right context.

Take two recent instances:

1. I was driving down the street near a local funeral home, where more than once I've been caught stuck waiting for a procession of dozens and dozens or cars to end. Some dead people are either really popular or people are really checking to see that the bastard is dead. Probably no in between. Not so much this time. A funeral guard pulls out into the street to let the hearse get into traffic, only to be followed by one car and one pick-up.

On one hand it was kind of sad. On the other, it kind of made me smile, for a couple reasons. One was that the folks thought enough about the deceased to have the entire funeral. By the same token, I was thinking 'why'? At that point have a graveside service. I guess these are not weddings when you know how will be showing and roughly how many. Catch as catch can.

2. We were at my parents the other day and they are the kind of folks who probably shook their heads at the Beatles and their mop tops. For the most part, if it wasn't Rodgers & Hammerstein, my parents stopped purchasing music that was made when Benny Goodman died.

So during the course of the evening my mother put on some music I grew up having been forced to listen to and never enjoyed. Some song came on and my mother had commented that she used to be able to play it on her........wait for it.......................ukulele.

That stopped me in my tracks for a few seconds. I said, 'you played ukulele?'. Replying that she had and didn't I know about it, I had an immediate response, but held off for about 16 seconds (which is an eternity to me!) while I tried to gauge the room.

"These things would be nice to know for your eulogy."

I'll give her his, she laughed and laughed.