Irish Take Mobile Phone Obsession Gravely

[Gamer03]

Irish Take Mobile Phone Obsession Gravely

AFP

Nov. 9, 2005— Ireland's obsession with the mobile phone has sunk to new depths with a growing number of people now taking them with them to the grave, according to undertakers on Monday.

The mobile phone has become a must-have accessory for young people with 94 percent of people owning one.

Ireland has had a tradition of people being buried with some of their most treasured possessions alongside them in the coffin and there is a growing trend for a mobile phone to accompany people to the hereafter.

"People will sometimes leave mementos in coffins with the deceased and nowadays it is happening that people are taking their mobile phones with them," Peter Flanagan of Kirwan's funeral homes in Dublin told AFP.

"There is a fear that some people have that they will be buried alive. They have contact with the outside world if they have a mobile phone with them."

Flanagan said that traditional items that are buried with people included family photographs and wedding rings. Some older people might be buried with their favorite tipple, such as a bottle of whiskey

Families burying phones with their loved ones are encouraged to either turn them off or switch them to silent or vibration alert.

"Obviously you don't want a phone ringing inside a coffin during a funeral," Flanagan said.

Another funeral director, Keith Massey, is also noticing the growing trend to bury mobiles, particularly with young people.

"There is a fair bit of it. When a young person dies, as opposed to as old person, it is very upsetting for most people.

"Lots of young people's friends don't know how to cope with death. You find the coffins are stuffed with the personal belongings of the deceased including increasingly their mobile phones.

"Mobile phones are a huge part of the lives of young people these days, particularly young girls. If they are fans of a sport there might also be a scarf in the coffin or some other memento."

Massey said that even though people are embalmed some put a phone in for people to get in touch if they wake up.

"This is despite the fact that there is more chance of them being taken up into space by aliens than waking up. Some people are superstitious and insist the phone is turned off so that if they do wake up they will have battery power when the phone is turned on again," Massey said.

According to ComReg, Ireland's telecommunications and broadcasting regulator, there are over 3.83 million mobile phones in the country and each owner sends an average of 91 text messages a month.

http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20051107/phone.html

[MOTOhooligan]

I don't know if I'll be buried with my cell phone but I will have a bottle of scotch with me for the afterlife!

[Etorres777]

I want to be buried with my cell phone, though if all goes well i'm not supposed to die for about 50-60 years LOL.

[Lena]

What about being buried with a mini-cam, so we can keep an eye on you while you decompose?

Michael McTavish, who was dying of cancer, asked his best friend Patrick to pour a bottle of the best Irish whiskey over his grave once a month, so he could continue to imbibe of the heavenly brew. After Michael passed away, Patrick tried to comply with Michael's wishes, but he was arrested for urinating in the cemetery. When the magistrate asked Patrick what he was doing, he explained Michael's wishes for a bottle of Ireland's finest to be poured over his grave. "But I couldn't see that fine whiskey goin' to waste, yer honor", says Patrick, "so I made sure I poured it through myself first."

Lena

[Etorres777]

Originally Posted by Lena

What about being buried with a mini-cam, so we can keep an eye on you while you decompose?

Michael McTavish, who was dying of cancer, asked his best friend Patrick to pour a bottle of the best Irish whiskey over his grave once a month, so he could continue to imbibe of the heavenly brew. After Michael passed away, Patrick tried to comply with Michael's wishes, but he was arrested for urinating in the cemetery. When the magistrate asked Patrick what he was doing, he explained Michael's wishes for a bottle of Ireland's finest to be poured over his grave. "But I couldn't see that fine whiskey goin' to waste, yer honor", says Patrick, "so I made sure I poured it through myself first."

Lena

That's hilarious!

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by Etorres777

That's hilarious!

I second that.