This morning I headed out to run some errands. As I was leaving the parking lot, I heard a huge roaring sound coming closer. Assuming it was a plane, I looked skyward. Clear.
My ears clued me in that it was coming from the road next to me. As I got into my vehicle, a stream of motorcyles came roaring up Jamboree, escorted by police.
The stream of motorcycles was long. I was able to drive out of the parking lot, turn onto a crossroad, and still waited about 15 minutes while the funeral procession passed by.
I have never understood why a funeral procession is allowed right of way. I get that it is a sign of respect to the fallen, whomever they were. Of course, funerals are really for the living, so who exactly are we showing respect to with these processions?
Where I live is about as whitebread as you can get in this area. Seeing the looks of consternation on the faces of those around me as this group of bikers roared up the road and stopped traffic was classic.
The sound of the loud chopper mufflers was like a huge raspberry through the morning air.
Do you think that was why the procession went up this particular road?
Having just been part of a funeral procession, I like the fact that people still stop or pull over out of respect, especially given that my grandfather was a veteran.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I would have minded though if people had kept driving in the other direction. People do need to get places and they don't know the deceased. I'm not offended if they keep driving.
What does bother me are the people who cut in the middle of the funeral procession. A lot of funeral homes don't do a good enough job of identifying the cars that are part of the procession. We had little flags as well as 4-way flashers turned on as we drove, which helped. Sometimes it is an honest mistake, you accidentally get in the middle of a procession because there is no indication that the car is part of it. BUT, I have no tolerance for those who are just "too busy" and road-raged and insist that we all need to go faster. Clue in, jackass.
This was something I noticed here in Halifax and had a post about it near the beginning of my blog. I was absolutely flabbergasted at the disrespect for a funeral procession - honking, cutting in, cutting off, cutting through, etc. It amazed me. In SJ it seems folks are much more respectful of that sort of thing. In Hamilton and Ottawa I never did see a funeral procession so not sure how they handle it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's so much showing respect for a particular individual as showing respect and acknowledgement of and for a fellow human and their family in a difficult time.