Make sure you're dead before they bury you!

There seems to be a slight problem with funerals here and there . . .

A few days ago it was reported that a Cambodian man went missing for a few days. He'd been drugged, robbed and dumped in the bush, and made his way home as soon as he recovered. Unfortunately for his family, they'd found an unidentified (and presumably unidentifiable) decomposing body in the jungle - and assumed it was him. When he walked in the door they were in full swing with the funeral rites. They'd just lit the cremation fire when he arrived. Must have been a bit of a shock, that - and I guess they still don't know who was on the pyre!

Today we learn of Feliberto Carrasco, an 81-year-old Chilean who lay down for a nap. His family found him lying limp and cold, and presumed that he'd shuffled off this mortal coil. They promptly dressed him in his finest suit, laid him in his open coffin and called the neighbors for a wake before burying him. Much to their surprise, in the middle of the festivities he opened his eyes and sat up. After convincing themselves that their eyes weren't seeing things due to an overdose of the local hard stuff, they duly helped him out of his coffin and had the local radio station announce that the earlier report of his death had been somewhat premature.

Hmmm . . . I have to wonder whether the respective families' (over)eagerness to lay their loved ones to rest had anything to do with the disposition of said loved ones' belongings. I think I'll have to include a provision in my will to the effect that my nearest and dearest had better be darn sure I'm dead before they bury me!

Of course, that reminds me of this . . . :-)





Peter