I really hate superstitions and superstitious people.Anyway, hubby and I just got home about half an hour ago from my best friend's father's funeral wake service. I had earlier dedicated a post to her & family on the passing of her father.
There is only about 15 - 20 people when we reached the funeral parlor (we were late half hour for the service as we had to rush some last minute errands before we can leave the house) and after the service ended, the guests retreated to the tables and chat with each other.
When we managed to speak to my best friend's elder sister (my best friend was talking to her father's friend at that time), I asked whether any of their friends or colleagues came today and she said not many of them. Reasons?
SUPERSTITIOUS.
You see, for Chinese folks like us (worse if they are NOT Christians) they believed in superstitious funeral / death craps like:
1. You should not attend funerals near Chinese New Year time (FYI, Chinese New Year for 2010 falls exactly on Valentines' Day) Reason? They believe attending funerals will bring them bad luck and hence, if they go to any funerals around this time, their Chinese New Year will be tainted with bad lucks...
2. You should not attend funerals if it clashes with good ceremonies (such as birthdays, weddings, etc) - same reason as above.
3. You should not attend funerals if you think you might be pregnant. Yeah... what a load of crap.
Seriously, I am sick of all this bull crap. I don't know why people allow themselves to believe in things like this.
Attending a funeral service is just a way of paying your last respect to the person who has passed away and also a polite and humble gesture to the surviving family members, it is also a comfort to them in this time of sorrow that they still have friends and family members who care for them. Why must it be thought as you will get bad luck for attending a funeral?! Why this selfish thought?!!!
Like I said in my post title, all this superstitions and superstitious people can kiss my ar$e.
(Note: Image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ateliermomoni/2980516579/)
7 comments:
That is so sad that people allow superstitions to get in the way of a courteous and gracious act.
Are these superstitions based in religion? If so, I don't think it's selfish at all that these people didn't attend the funeral. Why should they have to go against their beliefs just to please someone else, and how do you know they didn't pay their respects/express sympathy to your friend later?
There were many people that didn't show up to my sister's funeral for many reasons, and many of them paid their respects or expressed sympathy to me later and in a more private manner. I couldn't even think of being angry at anyone for not attending a funeral.
Hi Elle @ A for Effort,
Nope... the reasons given are NOT based on religions. That's the sad thing :(
Then I totally understand why you're upset. That's pretty disrespectful, and if I were your friend, I'd be sad that my "friend's" superstitions were more important than supporting me.
Hi Elle @ A for Effort,
Yeah,... that's why I'm angry too! :(
wow...other cultures are very interesting sometimes. i had no idea there were such superstitions about attending a funeral...you learn something new every day! i'm sorry for your friend that more ppl weren't there to lend their support...but glad you were!
Hi noelle!
Thanks for your comment. My friend is OK I guess. I really wanted to see more of her friends attending the funeral to pay their respect instead of being scared of superstitious beliefs like this... :(
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