Is it okay....?

[Si_Crewe]

So, a guy I know who makes his living doing odd jobs has just offered me a "job" at the weekend.

The local undertaker apparently hires him as a pallbearer at funerals.
Apparently they're short-handed this weekend and the guy I know wants me to lend a hand as a pallbearer at several funerals.

So, is it okay to take a job as a paid pallbearer at funerals?
It seems kind of creepy to me, and possibly a little disrespectful to accept money for it.
Then again, if the stiff doesn't have friends to fill the role I suppose somebody's got to do it - and I suppose there's some honour and dignity in that.

Answers on a postcard, and feel free to add any moral dilemmas of your own.

[Stooo]

I started out bearing before going through admin and then onto funeral director and arranger, best job in the world.

Bearing was paying seventeen quid per funeral when I started and it isn't all shouldering, most of the time a trolley is used.

Right, now down to the morality of the situation.
If you want your recently departed to be transported by horse and cart, then a hearse will follow in case something breaks or goes wrong.The same with bearers, they're part of the price.
Most people die when they they are very old and their friends are very old and their kids are middle aged and have bad backs, I'd say that ninety percent of the funerals that I have attended have had bearers supplied by the funeral service rather than friends or family.
Go for it, as a 'casual' you will be trained to and drive the limousines and hearse, be expected to go on call one night a week and one weekend a month (forty five quid each call out), be expected to prepare the deceased for the funeral whether visits are required or not and be expected to attend to the vehicles (washing etc).

The suits are decent as well.

[Foxy]

It's a job like any other and as such you have a right to be paid.

I used to work in an old folks' home which was 4 Victorian homes knocked together. In some parts the hallways were very high and narrow with sharp corners. They used to bring 'em out upright on a sort of sack barrow.

[Stooo]

It's a job like any other and as such you have a right to be paid.

I used to work in an old folks' home which was 4 Victorian homes knocked together. In some parts the hallways were very high and narrow with sharp corners. They used to bring 'em out upright on a sort of sack barrow.

It's a stretcher or gurney that has retractable legs and wheels.

[Si_Crewe]

I started out bearing before going through admin and then onto funeral director and arranger, best job in the world.

Bearing was paying seventeen quid per funeral when I started and it isn't all shouldering, most of the time a trolley is used.

Right, now down to the morality of the situation.
If you want your recently departed to be transported by horse and cart, then a hearse will follow in case something breaks or goes wrong.The same with bearers, they're part of the price.
Most people die when they they are very old and their friends are very old and their kids are middle aged and have bad backs, I'd say that ninety percent of the funerals that I have attended have had bearers supplied by the funeral service rather than friends or family.
Go for it, as a 'casual' you will be trained to and drive the limousines and hearse, be expected to go on call one night a week and one weekend a month (forty five quid each call out), be expected to prepare the deceased for the funeral whether visits are required or not and be expected to attend to the vehicles (washing etc).

The suits are decent as well.

That was genuinely helpful, thanks.

Maybe not the most heart-warming of motives but if I can help out a mate I suppose I'll give it a go.
I was genuinely a bit concerned about the idea of just turning up out of nowhere and being paid to do what seems like a rather personal thing though.

Apparently I'm getting £25 per job and there's 2 in Dumfries, 1 in Stranraer, 1 in Dalbeattie over the weekend so there's a few beer tokens in it.

I have to be at the funeral director's at 8am in the morning for a few test runs with a coffin containing bricks or summat.

[Stooo]

I started out bearing before going through admin and then onto funeral director and arranger, best job in the world.

Bearing was paying seventeen quid per funeral when I started and it isn't all shouldering, most of the time a trolley is used.

Right, now down to the morality of the situation.
If you want your recently departed to be transported by horse and cart, then a hearse will follow in case something breaks or goes wrong.The same with bearers, they're part of the price.
Most people die when they they are very old and their friends are very old and their kids are middle aged and have bad backs, I'd say that ninety percent of the funerals that I have attended have had bearers supplied by the funeral service rather than friends or family.
Go for it, as a 'casual' you will be trained to and drive the limousines and hearse, be expected to go on call one night a week and one weekend a month (forty five quid each call out), be expected to prepare the deceased for the funeral whether visits are required or not and be expected to attend to the vehicles (washing etc).

The suits are decent as well.

That was genuinely helpful, thanks.

Maybe not the most heart-warming of motives but if I can help out a mate I suppose I'll give it a go.
I was genuinely a bit concerned about the idea of just turning up out of nowhere and being paid to do what seems like a rather personal thing though.

Apparently I'm getting £25 per job and there's 2 in Dumfries, 1 in Stranraer, 1 in Dalbeattie over the weekend so there's a few beer tokens in it.

I have to be at the funeral director's at 8am in the morning for a few test runs with a coffin containing bricks or summat.

It's just the usual H&S stuff about lifting and welcome to the company stuff, you learn on the job.

Maybe, someday.

[Vam]

So, a guy I know who makes his living doing odd jobs has just offered me a "job" at the weekend.

The local undertaker apparently hires him as a pallbearer at funerals.
Apparently they're short-handed this weekend and the guy I know wants me to lend a hand as a pallbearer at several funerals.

So, is it okay to take a job as a paid pallbearer at funerals?
It seems kind of creepy to me, and possibly a little disrespectful to accept money for it.
Then again, if the stiff doesn't have friends to fill the role I suppose somebody's got to do it - and I suppose there's some honour and dignity in that.

Answers on a postcard, and feel free to add any moral dilemmas of your own.

Why "creepy", Si?
As you and Stooo have said, it's often the case that the deceased person didn't have enough people in their life to act as pallbearers. FWIW, I think what you'll be doing is a very good thing - in helping to add a little dignity and respect to someone's final journey.

Head up & shoulders back! My bet is you'll feel pretty damn fine about yourself by the time you're done

[Viper]

Good thread with helpful advice.

[Si_Crewe]

Why "creepy", Si?
As you and Stooo have said, it's often the case that the deceased person didn't have enough people in their life to act as pallbearers. FWIW, I think what you'll be doing is a very good thing - in helping to add a little dignity and respect to someone's final journey.

Head up & shoulders back! My bet is you'll feel pretty damn fine about yourself by the time you're done

I guess stuff surrounding death just seems "creepy", doesn't it?

I realise it's not a rational way to think but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that way, am I?
Very few people are going to be enthusiastic if you tell them you're a grave-digger, mortician or undertaker etc.
We just find those kinds of jobs to be.... creepy.

FWIW, it all went well (I didn't drop any coffins ). Most of it involved long periods of driving around the region, collecting "clients" and then getting them, and a couple of other cars, to wherever the funeral was happening etc.
We did stop off for breakfast in a cafe on both mornings, with the hearse and a couple of cars parked outside, which was all a bit "Monty Python" in a grim sort of way.

The one thing I didn't really like was hanging around at the funerals.
The natural instinct (for me, at least) is to be sympathetic to the mourners but I felt like a bit of a "fraud" continually reciting phrases like "I'm sorry for your loss" over and over, so I took every opportunity to bugger off out the back and check the oil/water in the cars and give them a quick polish etc.

[Vam]

Oh, I don't know Si. I think people who are in that line of work usually tend to be salt of the earth types. The kind of calm, unflappable and grounded folks you'd really appreciate around you in times of trouble.

Anyway, creepy or not, this thread has been interesting I have one question, though: would you do it again, if asked to?

[Stooo]

Why "creepy", Si?
As you and Stooo have said, it's often the case that the deceased person didn't have enough people in their life to act as pallbearers. FWIW, I think what you'll be doing is a very good thing - in helping to add a little dignity and respect to someone's final journey.

Head up & shoulders back! My bet is you'll feel pretty damn fine about yourself by the time you're done

I guess stuff surrounding death just seems "creepy", doesn't it?

I realise it's not a rational way to think but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that way, am I?
Very few people are going to be enthusiastic if you tell them you're a grave-digger, mortician or undertaker etc.
We just find those kinds of jobs to be.... creepy.

FWIW, it all went well (I didn't drop any coffins ). Most of it involved long periods of driving around the region, collecting "clients" and then getting them, and a couple of other cars, to wherever the funeral was happening etc.
We did stop off for breakfast in a cafe on both mornings, with the hearse and a couple of cars parked outside, which was all a bit "Monty Python" in a grim sort of way.

The one thing I didn't really like was hanging around at the funerals.
The natural instinct (for me, at least) is to be sympathetic to the mourners but I felt like a bit of a "fraud" continually reciting phrases like "I'm sorry for your loss" over and over, so I took every opportunity to bugger off out the back and check the oil/water in the cars and give them a quick polish etc.

Sometimes people want to talk to the gentlemen but keeping your hands clasped at the front and a gentle bow of the head with a sympathetic smile should suffice. Are you removing the deceased from where they have died and back to the Funeral Service yet?

[Stooo]

Oh, I don't know Si. I think people who are in that line of work usually tend to be salt of the earth types. The kind of calm, unflappable and grounded folks you'd really appreciate around you in times of trouble.

Anyway, creepy or not, this thread has been interesting I have one question, though: would you do it again, if asked to?

I'll take that as a rare compliment