Funerals (again)

One of the tricky things about living in another country is getting hold of the traditions and doing it correctly.  With things like weddings, this is not such a big deal, but with a funeral?  Whole different kettle of fish.

You see, if people are happy, like at a wedding, and you get the protocol a little wrong, they are generally forgiving.  If they are already distressed, like with a funeral, not so good.  Generally viewed as insulting.

So, when we were faced with another funeral here - one of the things about living in a small town?  I go to WAY more funerals than I ever would in Canada.  WAY!!!!

First big difference.  You can wear most anything you want to a funeral.  LOTS of people show up in jeans.  The man and I are almost always by far the most formally dressed, and people comment on it.
Also, for a society that recognizes the difficulty of losing a family member, even one that in Canada would be relatively distant, they are in other ways surprisingly relaxes about who goes to the funeral. My boss' father died, and I've worked there for going on 9 years now, but the funeral was at a time that was nearly impossible.

No worries, The Man could go as the representative of the family.  What a great idea!!!!

As long as SOMEONE shows up, all good.

That was the big take-away this time.  It is OK if you cannot go, they recognize that it is sometimes really hard to get off work (not so much in Canada if it is someone close) but that you can send any warm body as a representative.

Pretty clever.