Recently I discovered that none of my colleagues are that worried about dying. Yes, some are a bit concerned, but reassure themselves that there's no point thinking too hard about it, after all there's nothing one can do to stop it. Others aren't bothered at all. I was quite shocked. I think about it quite a lot, which seemingly puts me in quite a shallow pool of people wasting what little time they have before the dreaded event worrying about it. Not that I've been organised to write any of this down, but I have thought about the type of funeral I'd like. I want to be buried, not cremated. Despite oscillating between agnostic and atheist, I think I'd rather it took place in a church, or at least somewhere that looked like one. And I don't want one of those occasions where people can wear bright colours or whatever they want. I want everyone well turned out, dressed in black, preferably looking a sad. These might be quite tall demands, and perhaps I should spend more of my existence on earth ensuring that people will sufficiently miss me, before thinking about any of this. But I do know that I want a funeral.
This differs considerably from my own father, who wants absolutely no fuss and requests that he is simply 'chucked in a box' and be done with it. I do understand that. Funerals are expensive, and after all, who wants to plan a party that they won't even be conscious at? But when the moment eventually comes, I can't see any of us wanting anything less than the full chance to remember him properly at a funeral.
But if you've found yourself exposed to daytime television, you would conclude that I'm extremely out of touch. Switch on the TV and every fifteen minutes you're presented with at least one advert offering the chance to dispense with funerals altogether with a 'direct cremation'. I have no hard numerical evidence to hand, but it seems that this genre of advertising is particularly prolific on GB News.