Curious: picnics in the graveyard

[Unorthodox]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/picnic-in-cemeteries-america?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page

I remember taking picnics with grandma in the graveyard, and not just around memorial day.  Just because. 

Picnics, tombstone rubbings, reading under the tree...They were 'normal' activities to me as much as any park.  I didn't realize it's just how she was raised and was just something normal to her as well.   

As such, I've never really understood wider societies 'rules' and etiquette.  Kind of a sad thing to lose, really. 

Anyone else ever practice this?

[Lorizael]

Weird. Never heard of that. Seems like this could be seen as insensitive to people actually there for a funeral, though.

[Buster's Uncle]

I found out real young that if both parties are okay with being there at night, a cemetery is a good spot to go parking.  -Also nice for being out of the car when the weather suits.

[Unorthodox]

Weird. Never heard of that. Seems like this could be seen as insensitive to people actually there for a funeral, though.

And that's what I don't get.  You're not wrong, mind you, I just don't understand why. 

I mean, provided I respect their privacy burying uncle Fred over yonder, why should they care if I'm eating lunch near that neat mausoleum hither? 


But then, I have a whole slew of things I'd like done with my remains, and none of them involve a solemn gathering just before dumping them in a hole.  But that's exactly what will happen.  I just have really weird relations with death.   

[Elok]

It's the whole thing where picnics are supposed to be a happy occasion, while you're supposed to be sad or somber at cemeteries because you miss Uncle Fred.  You can argue that there are better attitudes to have towards death and dying, and that attitude isn't necessarily universal.  I imagine Mexicans see no problem with picnicking in the graveyard on Dia de los Muertos.

[Lorizael]

But then, I have a whole slew of things I'd like done with my remains, and none of them involve a solemn gathering just before dumping them in a hole.  But that's exactly what will happen.  I just have really weird relations with death.

In the unlikely event that I do die, I'm going to get myself frozen. So I've recently decided that if my friends and family do have a funeral for me (during which they will be mourning over a hopefully empty casket), I want Metallica's "Trapped Under Ice" blaring during the whole ceremony. My goal is to encourage more eye rolling than crying. A nearby picnic couldn't really hurt the proceedings.

[Syn]

I've never done it but wouldn't mind it. Graveyards take up a lot of space. Finding utility beyond being a dumping site is ideal.

[E_T]

A picnic in a graveyard and a picnic during a funeral, are two different things.  One could be termed as respectful to all and the other could be looked at as disrespectful for the one (by the ones whom are affected).  But then, how do you feel about wakes??  The picnic could be a continuation of a wake, if a wake was preformed...

[Buster's Uncle]

I don't know why the dead would be adverse, if the dead cared.

All the funeral instructions I've ever made are for basically a wake without the drinking...

[Green1]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/picnic-in-cemeteries-america?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page

I remember taking picnics with grandma in the graveyard, and not just around memorial day.  Just because. 

Picnics, tombstone rubbings, reading under the tree...They were 'normal' activities to me as much as any park.  I didn't realize it's just how she was raised and was just something normal to her as well.   

As such, I've never really understood wider societies 'rules' and etiquette.  Kind of a sad thing to lose, really. 

Anyone else ever practice this?

My ex-wife's family did this for a few years after my ex grandmother in-law died and while the grandfather was still "with it". (He later developed Alzhiemers).

It was just them remembering her while getting out on a nice day. Nothing weird at all. Plus, the better cemeteries are clean, green and well landscaped, and pretty quiet for a picnic. It is one of the selling points of the nicer cemeteries and they actually encourage it as long as you are not trashing the place, getting drunk, or there at night.

[Unorthodox]

But then, I have a whole slew of things I'd like done with my remains, and none of them involve a solemn gathering just before dumping them in a hole.  But that's exactly what will happen.  I just have really weird relations with death.

In the unlikely event that I do die, I'm going to get myself frozen. So I've recently decided that if my friends and family do have a funeral for me (during which they will be mourning over a hopefully empty casket), I want Metallica's "Trapped Under Ice" blaring during the whole ceremony. My goal is to encourage more eye rolling than crying. A nearby picnic couldn't really hurt the proceedings.

Like block of ice ice-man frozen or freeze dried mummy frozen?

[Lorizael]

Ted Williams frozen.

[Buster's Uncle]

Who's going to pay for that?

[Lorizael]

It's usually paid for via life insurance policies.

[Buster's Uncle]

I don't see how the financing works - either somebody pays or accepts an all-up-front sum, and the freezer vault company eventually goes bankrupt paying the horrific electric bills, or the insurance company gets soaked and stops offering that in a hurry...