Pickle Barbecue

I witnessed the incineration of my aunt's pickle today. The event, presided over by a pastor, was solemn, with the usual touching hymns and sermon. What struck me, though, was just how automated the cremation process was.

It basically involved a mechanized trolley that could be operated by a single person, which moved the coffin onto a computerized forklift. After inputting some commands, the operator could just step back and let the forklift deliver the coffin straight into the cremation chamber. As the forklift approached the hidden double doors at a stately pace, it opened up and the forklift deposited the coffin in the chamber, and then the door closed again.

The event was over as quickly as it began, and involved none of the discomfort of showing an actual cremation to those witnessing. There was also the niggling feeling that perhaps the body was not cremated after all, since there was no evidence that it actually happened. Perhaps this is of some comfort to the bereaved.

Nonetheless, the overall process was fuss free, and there wasn't even any visible smoke involved. Dealing with the dead has become so much simpler, compared to the days of jolly bonfires with unpickled bodies roasting atop the flames, or towers of solitude that allowed the birds to slowly reduce corpses to poo.