Saying Goodbye to the Departed

                       

            There were lots of rituals described in news accounts of funerals for the Chinese victims of the recent fatal New York casino bus crash. A New York Times article mentioned placing cardboard models of things the deceased would want in the afterlife; the objects to be burned as part of the traditional Chinese funeral included fake money stacks, miniature sports cars, cellphones, double-breasted suits and even smiling dolls that will act as servants in the hereafter. “There was also gambling paraphernalia — poker chips, slot machines, a mah-jongg table — that might have appealed to the victims riding home from the casino.”

            One reference brought back a memory of Chinese funerals in Lower Merion Township’s South Penn Valley, home to what was known colloquially as the Black and Chinese Cemetery and formally as Merion Memorial Park.  The cemetery, on

Rock Hill Road

, has an interesting history. There was a time when “white” cemeteries in the area would not accept Blacks and Chinese for burial prompting formation in 1888 of one that would. It includes the final resting place of James A. Bland (1854-1911), an African-American composer and minstrel who wrote over 700 folks songs including “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” and “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,” adopted years later as a Mummer’s anthem.

The evocative passage in the news account I read regarding Chinese funerals said “…mourners laid wreaths of chrysanthemums on the ground, along with dishes of food for the afterlife — tofu, bok choy, fruit and noodles…”  During the years I spent as head of Public Information for Lower Merion Township I heard stories about graveside Chinese funerals in the Black and Chinese cemetery back in the old days.  Families of Chinese decreased would bring pots and dishes of food to be left at the grave for the afterlife.  No sooner would the families depart than would be heard on the police radio, “Guys, we’re eating Chinese tonight…”  We say goodbye to the departed in so many different ways.

Are You Prepared, Just in Case?

         

            As violent revolutions sweep across many parts of the globe it appears that Cabela’s, the “World’s Foremost Outfitter,” wants you to be prepared should catastrophic violence break out across America. Through the end of March Cabela’s is holding “Great Outdoors Days,” its largest event and sale of the season.

Some readers may not be familiar with Cabela’s.  The Company sells hundreds of millions of dollars each year in equipment and accessories for hunting, shooting, fishing, boating, camping, auto & ATV, clothing and footwear for home and cabin. In the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2010 total revenue reported was $934 million.  It’s a big outfit.

I found eye-catching a portion of the front page of a full-color, 20-page newspaper insert touting the “Great Outdoors Days” event and sale.” It offered $30.00 in savings on a Mossberg “Just in Case” shotgun that included a “survival kit.” What I found particularly eye-caching was the description that the 12 gauge shotgun with 3”chamber was a “Just in Case” model. Just in Case of what? I wondered, so I called the Cabela’s Superstore in Hamburg, PA and spoke to a man named Don in the gun department who told me it was a good shotgun to have “just in case you need it” but that still didn’t explain what you might need it for.  He did say it came with a cylindrical storage container “which you could even bury until needed.” Sounded a little scary to me.  Then again I would bet dollars against doughnuts that there are thousands of weapons owned by regular, everyday Joes and Janes buried in backyards for when they’re needed.  Don also didn’t know what the accompanying survival kit consisted of although the insert photo appeared to show a rolled-up plastic tarp and a tin that looked like it held sardines.

Since Don in the Hamburg, PA gun department was not very helpful I turned to Cabela’s corporate headquarters, which encompasses more than 250,000 square feet along Interstate 80 in Sydney, Nebraska.  I spoke with Corporate Communications Manager Joe Arterburn who said more and more people are preparing for emergency situations in which the authorities might be overwhelmed and you might have to take care of yourself and your family by yourself. Hence “Just in Case” shotguns and survival kits.   “Survival kits are very hot now,” Mr. Arterburn said. “There’s a drive to be well prepared, to be self-sufficient in case of an emergency,” he added.

Cabela’s has the goods you’ll need.  Mr. Arterburn told me that the World’s Foremost Outfitter sells thousands of rifles, shotguns, high-powered “Law-Enforcement Trade-In” assault-type weapons and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition each year.  According to the Company’s website nearly 100 different catalogs are produced each year and are shipped to all 50 states and 125 countries. Cabela’s seems to know just what you’ll need, just in case.

Elsewhere in the Cabela’s newspaper insert were items like a 12 gauge Mossberg 500 Home/Field Combo shotgun that included a home-defense barrel, and a Remington 870 high capacity Home Defense 12 gauge shotgun. There was $50.00 in savings offered on that one.

Violent, sometimes fatal home invasions are no laughing matter. Should a “revolution” spreads across America you’d have to imagine that there’d likely be lots of home invasions, which apparently has led good-citizen and weapons marketer Cabela’s to recommend  that if you haven’t already done so now is the time to strengthen home defenses, just in case.

Seeing but not believing

            “It looked like an old Godzilla movie.”  My Ex-wife had hit it right on the head.  We were discussing scenes of the devastating Japanese tsunami sweeping away cars and trucks and boats and houses and they all looked like toys strewn around the floor of a child’s room.  We shuddered as we thought of how those cars and trucks and boats and houses and even children could have been ours.  It is said that seeing is believing but although we saw what was happening we really couldn’t believe it, we couldn’t fathom what was occurring.  And now there are millions, millions of Japanese people without food, water, electricity, roofs over their heads. Unbelievable became the word of that day and the days that have followed.

            So many disasters around the world have strained our ability to focus.  The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti a little over a year ago.  Was it just a year ago?  Seems like it happened longer ago than that. The massive earthquake that struck Chile.  The torrent of mudslides, floods, tornadoes, blizzards and more that hit various parts of the United States.  And those were just natural disasters that strained our minds. Middle East revolutions with protestors gunned down in the streets while diplomats debated courses of action while taking none, Somali pirates murdering hostages, suicide bombers in Afghanistan and Iraq, rampant rape and murder throughout Africa.  Unbelievable.

            I have tried in earnest to imagine what the Japanese people are going through, so many having had everything washed away. It happened when a huge tsunami struck Indonesia some years ago and now it’s happened again in Japan. I used to believe that I possessed a vivid imagination but I find I cannot imagine what it must be like. The only country to have had atomic bombs dropped on it now faces peril from damaged nuclear plants spewing radiation.  It sounds puny to say but it is all just unbelievable.

Oh Deer

            I often set out early on Sunday mornings to Lancaster County flea markets where I try to sell antiques and collectibles. It was just after three a.m., Sunday, February 27^th, when, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike a little ways west of Valley Forge, that I crashed into a deer. The front of my mini-van was demolished.  I pulled to the shoulder and was luckily OK.  It happened in a split-second.  My insurance company has totaled the vehicle and I’m in the hunt for another one. One moment I’m driving along a highway stretch in complete darkness and the very next there’s a deer standing still in the middle of my lane. It could have been worse.

            At about 8:45 PM on another recent Sunday Ch. 10 News scared the bejeebers out of elderly couples throughout the Delaware Valley.  An attractive female news person intoned, “An elderly couple attacked in their own home tonight at 11.”  That gave elderly couples throughout the areas just two hours and fifteen minutes to wait and wonder whether they’d be the subject of the horrible, senseless attack.

            According to a frequently played commercial on KYW Newsradio, St. Mary Medical Center, in Langhorne, Bucks County, is prepared to face the challenge of A Fib.  The announcer speaks about being able to manage A Fib.  Over the years I’ve told my share of little white lies and large, bold-faced lies and I know that even a little white lie, a fib, has had consequences for me and the one I’ve told a fib to.  I wish St. Mary Medical Center luck in managing the guilt.

            I found a recent headline eye-catching because it stated, “Peco seeks slight increase in electricity billing rate.”  To me seeing “Peco” and “slight rate increase” in the same sentence seemed terrifying.

            As a former broadcaster I take pleasure in hearing commercial announcers on the radio who have successfully moved from one commercial to another.  Not having heard the yelling announcer for Unclaimed Freight for a while I was happy to hear what sounds just like him yelling Forman Mills over and over on local radio.  Bravo.

            I’m proud that I’ve been able to get through just about all of this particular post without one mention of Charlie Sheen.

In case you missed the following story:

“Jackson, Wyo. — A 78-year-old retired doctor was handcuffed and hauled away on a toboggan for skiing uphill in Wyoming, but he won't face charges.

Roland Fleck of Jackson was arrested after refusing ski patrollers' orders to stop. Jackson Hole Resort officials say avalanche danger and the presence of grooming machines made it unsafe.

Skiers can get uphill with snow-gripping "skins" on their skis, among other methods.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide says Fleck was jailed on charges of trespass, interference, unsafe skiing and theft of services.

Resort officials say they won't press charges because Fleck's removal resolved their complaint. Sheriff Jim Whalen says he sees no need for prosecution.” 

That’s just as well.  Pressing charges would have been an uphill battle.