On the way to the gym, I saw a casket being carried out of an alley (with funeral band playing “Soi Da cung can co nhau” – pebble and stone still need each other). Then to my amazement, the pall-bearers swung the casket around 180 degrees, dipped it three times without spilling the whiskey glasses on top then, another 180 degrees to resume forward march.
The dead even bowed and bid farewell to his/her beloved alley. I felt a lump in my throat.
Di thua ve gui (you say Good Morning and Goodnight as you come and go).
This takes it to a whole different level (in China, people not only burned incense to honor the dead, they burnt fake dollars and I-pads).
Farewell from both the living and the dead.
Who says the dead show no respect.
At least I, the living, have learned something new.
Go work out, trim down that fat, but at the same time, adjust that attitude.
You will have to bow sooner or later. Better be respectful, than being dead and still respectful. First learn respect, then learn the 3 R’s (Tien hoc le, hau hoc van). We all leaned that early in life, and now I saw it in death.
Thang Nguyen 555 