Stiffs aren’t, really
Be reassured. Nothing is forever (except death). Especially, remember that an appointment to the Canadian Senate does have an end date (death or 75, first to arrive). No matter how many people get the nod, it really won’t matter. Go ahead – name ten senators from the last 140 years, without recourse to Wiki. See?
Actually, a friend passed me an interesting book today, dealing with the collateral damage of death. If everyone on the planet “went south” (death is a world of euphemisms), we’d still only have seven billion new corpses, and they, too would disappear; just like everyone who has gone before us. The book, Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, is one of those books that you can’t turn over, or away from. Like a train wreck, I guess.
I’m not going to try and summarize for you. Go ahead; this one will remind you that those words from the classic burial prayer are (almost) on the mark. “Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” I missed a lot of Sunday school, so I’ve just learned that the passage is from the Book of Genesis. Never too late to learn that bit of scripture, eh what? Seriously, the author will keep you giggling (while trying to maintain a serious face for anyone in the room with you). There’s just too much about the death process that has to be taken with a pinched nose and a wish you were somewhere else.
For the record, the book takes an irreverent sideways glance at gross anatomy, body snatching, decay, impact tolerance, bullets, crucifixion (crucifiction??), cannibalism and a few dozen other topics that aren’t meant for the supper table discussion list. All the same, we need to get closer to our human nature, because we all have to “go south” eventually.
