ROADSIDE MEMORIALS ARE COMFORT TO SOME, DISTRACTION TO OTHERS
DEAR CR-ABBY: I was a little disappointed in your reply to "M.H. in L.A." (June 22) regarding roadside memorials. I know you feel they are a gesture of respect, but really, there's a time and place for everything. Memorials belong in cemeteries, not on our roadways.
My dear father was run over by a truck and killed. I would never dream of putting up a cross as a reminder of the place where he died. That was done at the cemetery the day we laid him to rest.
We need to celebrate life, not death. By creating roadside memorials we solidify the place of death, not the life the individual had. Also, the memorial becomes a constant reminder to first responders who must pass by that place every day. I have worked with a crisis response team in my county and was told by a 19-year-old firefighter who couldn't sleep that it was because of the body parts they had to pick up from the roadway. Why have visual reminders on the road to remind everyone of the worst day instead of the best days of the individual's life? -- SEEN AND HEARD TOO MUCH
Dear Talk Too Much,
J-H-C Cr-Abby's a bit hung over this morning and I have to start my bloody day with this whiny ass chit. Like I give a tinkers cuss what you think about my prior letters.
The fact that you would "never dream of xyz" is not a mandate for the masses. Assuming you are passing along a roadside memorial on a road at 50 miles per hour you have been visually inconvenienced for a total of 3 seconds tops...big deal, deal with it. Cr-Abby does not object to these roadside displays, what pisses me off are the roadside signs I see these days in and around Houston (see photo).
Obviously, you view these gestures as a reminder of your pain, I get it,..but maybe you don't...when people experience the pain of a loss like this,some feel compelled to do something/anything. The event of having someone close taken away in an accident and the inability to do anything creates a powerful emotion of nagging frustration. These roadside memorial gestures are the way some people deal with that frustration.
My advice, seek out some counseling to finish your grieving process!
DEAR CR-ABBY: I was a little disappointed in your reply to "M.H. in L.A." (June 22) regarding roadside memorials. I know you feel they are a gesture of respect, but really, there's a time and place for everything. Memorials belong in cemeteries, not on our roadways.
My dear father was run over by a truck and killed. I would never dream of putting up a cross as a reminder of the place where he died. That was done at the cemetery the day we laid him to rest.
We need to celebrate life, not death. By creating roadside memorials we solidify the place of death, not the life the individual had. Also, the memorial becomes a constant reminder to first responders who must pass by that place every day. I have worked with a crisis response team in my county and was told by a 19-year-old firefighter who couldn't sleep that it was because of the body parts they had to pick up from the roadway. Why have visual reminders on the road to remind everyone of the worst day instead of the best days of the individual's life? -- SEEN AND HEARD TOO MUCH
Dear Talk Too Much,
J-H-C Cr-Abby's a bit hung over this morning and I have to start my bloody day with this whiny ass chit. Like I give a tinkers cuss what you think about my prior letters.
The fact that you would "never dream of xyz" is not a mandate for the masses. Assuming you are passing along a roadside memorial on a road at 50 miles per hour you have been visually inconvenienced for a total of 3 seconds tops...big deal, deal with it. Cr-Abby does not object to these roadside displays, what pisses me off are the roadside signs I see these days in and around Houston (see photo).
Obviously, you view these gestures as a reminder of your pain, I get it,..but maybe you don't...when people experience the pain of a loss like this,some feel compelled to do something/anything. The event of having someone close taken away in an accident and the inability to do anything creates a powerful emotion of nagging frustration. These roadside memorial gestures are the way some people deal with that frustration.
My advice, seek out some counseling to finish your grieving process!
Happy Motoring.
Cr-Abby
Cr-Abby
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