HW 46

The new unit we are working with is the care of the dead. Now that we have learned about illness and dying I find it interesting that we will get to know what happens after. I also find it cool how we jumped from the end of life to the beginning of life to the end again. I haven't really thought much about the care of the dead really. All I know is that when you die you are out in a funeral home then you are either taken to a cemetery to be buried or put in an incinerator to be cremated and the family takes the ashes. That sounds kind of nightmarish but it has never seemed like that. I think that the nightmarish atrocities are somewhere else. I just don't know nearly enough to put my finger on it. So what are the alternatives when it comes to taking care of the dead?
I expect to hear a lot of things that I haven't heard because this is my first time really dealing with the subject. I've thought of things like there are preservatives they put in the bodies to keep them fresh. Or stuff like all the people who just don't get a proper burial or cremation. What happens to those people with out families to pay for them? I know that it is really expensive to take care of the dead and thats not right. Its like these funeral homes are exploiting people because you can't just not take care of your dead loved one. So these people just use that to there advantage which also causes unequal service for all customers. Some will get the perfect treatment which still isn't that great cause that coffin is still going in the ground. Or really bad service which just makes the family feel even worse that they couldn't provide for their dead loved one and that they may need to spend the rest of there time in a cramped cheap plywood box.