Anyone who has been to a funeral would know that the lowering or sending off of the casket is one of the hardest parts to watch.
I witnessed an interesting spectacle of disrespect or ignorance recently when a hearse was attempting to get out of a funeral home in Belconnen. A casket was clearly visible inside and a lady from the funeral home was standing near the curb waiting for a gap in the traffic. There is also a very large sign advertising that the driveway belonged to a funeral home.
The funeral home is quite close to a set of traffic lights. These lights went red twice with no one letting the hearse in, rather they simply queued in front of it. Many more cars passed until finally someone stopped to let the hearse in. This car then kept a respectful distance while the funeral home lady led the hearse down to the lights and finally let it on its way.
I can understand that it may have been hard to see the casket inside, so maybe a few cars went past because they didn’t realise. I can also allow for a good amount of oblivious Canberran drivers. But it took many many cars before someone put two and two together.
So I’m wondering what Rioters think. Is this a sign of Canberra/Australia losing respect for the dead? Or perhaps we’re just becoming extremely oblivious or self centred drivers? Maybe it’s now old fashioned and unnecessary to give way to a hearse? Or can I be hopeful and think that this was just a once off?