This one left me speechless

[Sheldonrs]

I took a call from a woman who said she was calling for her friend who's son was scheduled for a trip to Disney World through MAW next week. She told me the son died last week but his mother wanted to know if she could still take the trip.

I don't know what to make of this one.

[SteeleDragon78]

it could be that her son wanted her to take the trip in the first place and is seeing it as a final request, or the guy may have wanted his ashes spread there as well. doesnt seem too out there to me, but im weird like that.

[powerboy]

Talk about selfish.

[crazylegs]

Talk about selfish.

How so?

[Eireann]

It might have been her son's wish, it might have been that she couldn't get a refund, it could be a lot of things. I don't think that it has to be selfish; it could be, but there are many other possible explanations.

[FenigDurak]

Parents who lose their children do all sorts of "unusual" things to hold on to the memory of their child. Going on the trip could be one of them.

[smileyeagle1021]

I'm mixed... not knowing the details I say it could go either way... personally I wouldn't want to go on the trip, but I can understand why some people would... and as someone else mentioned with the ashes, I could see people (my mother being one of them) who would bring the urn with them and at least go through the front gates with the attitude of "I promised him that I'd take him to Disney World before he died... I can't keep the promise in full, but better late than never"

[SuperB]

I wouldn't assume selfishness. Everyone grieves in different ways and as this is MAW, if she was expecting the worst then she's probably completely spent at this point and since he would have been on this trip with her, she may want to go for that reason.

[South Texan]

I could see people (my mother being one of them) who would bring the urn with them and at least go through the front gates with the attitude of "I promised him that I'd take him to Disney World before he died... I can't keep the promise in full, but better late than never"

I agree that people handle the memory of a loved one in different ways. I recently witnessed a widow pour a small quantity of her late husband's ashes into the open grave of his old golfing buddy "so they will always be together like they were in life." The buddy's widow was touched.

Personally, I found it a little creepy; but then again, I happen not to hold a corpse as anything more than something that is dead and has no feeling nor emotion nor ties to the soul of the person once inhabiting it. If, however, doing something benign with the corpse brings comfort to those in mourning by allowing then to think of their loved one doing what gave him/her joy in life, then I say let them do it.

[Gawdzillers]

Buckethead says he would like to be buried in Disneyland.
Preferably after death.

[dithers66]

Maybe she killed him to get the trip.

[JLRodgers]

First thing I thought of was it being something he'd want her to do (who knows, he could've said to "go for me" before his death even).

But I'm just a bit optomistic in people's actions after someone's death.

It's not like she was holding a beer, alcohol, "bring your own drugs", "smoke 'em if you got 'em", "poker tournament for cash" celebration that the person's dead and you got rich as I've seen someone do once.

[rerant]

It's sad that I've become so jaded that the first thing I thought was she just wanted to squeeze out a free trip.

[Pezzle]

It's not like she was holding a beer, alcohol, "bring your own drugs", "smoke 'em if you got 'em", "poker tournament for cash" celebration that the person's dead and you got rich as I've seen someone do once.

As in a celebration of "finally they kicked it and I get the inheritance?" if so, that's bad.

If by that you mean "let's celebrate the good times we had with them" then how did I miss you at my grandma's wake?

[South Texan]

It's sad that I've become so jaded that the first thing I thought was she just wanted to squeeze out a free trip.

You actually may have been right. This board has had many examples of extremely self-centered people who have no feelings for anyone but themselves. Most of us wanted to find some kind of noble reason for what she was asking as no one wants to believe that a mother would be that unfeeling about losing a child.

There was a horrible school bus accident several years ago in my state that killed many children on the bus. The company whose truck and equipment caused the crash paid large settlements to the families of those children. One man, who had never seen (nor tried to see) the daughter he had fathered and who had never paid a cent in child support during her ten years of life, came forward and demanded money too. The company settled with him as well and he walked away a very rich man. It made me (and a lot of others who heard about it) sick.