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In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

laphamsquarterly.org

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Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#81

Post by Retra »

jokr004 wrote: post #75
ramblerman wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First point is very valid and one I hadn't considered Second is the one I was arguing against. I certainly don't doubt they did sincerely feel a lot of upset. I suppose I still think it shouldn't matter. It would in that regard have been better had they just never found out.

I see where you're coming from with your argument, and certainly I have no qualms about the use of my organs after I die, but not everyone shares that belief and personally I don't think it's right to just disregard that. Sure, it might have been better if the families never found out, but it would have been best if the families wishes (no matter how irrational) were respected from the get-go.

Disregarding irrational beliefs is the first step to making good decisions.

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#82

Post by beefman »

Sukotto wrote: post #71

I quite liked this other article of his on being banned from ever returning to the remote island of Tristan da Cunha. http://laphamsquarterly.org/travel/take-nothing-leave-nothin...

I read this article twice and am completely at a loss for what hurtful secret was revealed! Do you know?

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#83

Post by madengr »

te_platt wrote: post #10
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #4

The worst job I've had was called 'putting up hay'. It amounted to climbing into the loft of a very dust-laden barn with 3 or 4 of my college buddies, catching hay bales as they spat out of the hay elevator, and running them over to stack in uniform 3-d arrays. After a couple of hours, our employer called us down for rejuvenation with Coke-a-cola and glazed donuts, and we'd blow what seemed like pounds of dusty mucou…

Reminds me of tagging along with my older brothers to mow lawns. After a few hours of weeding and taking my turn at the push mower they would take me to get a Slurpee. My own Slurpee that I didn't have to share! Later in high school doing construction work for my dad digging ditches with a pick and shovel, he would walk by and casually ask if I was feeling motivated to do well in school.

Yep, as a teenager I cleaned out urethane spray booths and other shit jobs no one else would do. That motivated me to do quite quite well in electrical engineering.

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#84

Post by Nadya »

kindlez wrote: post #33
malnourish wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, aside from reddit (and perhaps Digg) what sites are "like" this, but not focused on tech?

Try our platform: http://snapzu.com We have tons of differentiating features from reddit and HN.

>Thank you

>Your invite should arrive no later than July, 2026.

HAH! I had a good laugh about that one.

>Seriously though, want in today?

>Just send out a quick tweet to help others discover Snapzu and as a token of our appreciation we will bump you to the top of the list and send you an invite code within 24 hours

Might take you up on this later today. ;)

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#85

Post by TeMPOraL »

Retra wrote: post #81
jokr004 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see where you're coming from with your argument, and certainly I have no qualms about the use of my organs after I die, but not everyone shares that belief and personally I don't think it's right to just disregard that. Sure, it might have been better if the families never found out, but it would have been best if the families wishes (no matter how irrational) were respected from the get-go.

Disregarding irrational beliefs is the first step to making good decisions.

Disregarding someone's irrational beliefs (every one of us has some) just like that is a sign of serious lack of empathy, and an easy way to make enemies. You can try and convince someone to stop holding that irrational belief, but you don't have to disrespect their feelings in the process.

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#86

Post by tinco »

Retra wrote: post #81
jokr004 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see where you're coming from with your argument, and certainly I have no qualms about the use of my organs after I die, but not everyone shares that belief and personally I don't think it's right to just disregard that. Sure, it might have been better if the families never found out, but it would have been best if the families wishes (no matter how irrational) were respected from the get-go.

Disregarding irrational beliefs is the first step to making good decisions.

Without irrational beliefs there is no meaning to life.

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#87

Post by logfromblammo »

mathgenius wrote: post #51
niels_olson wrote: post #42

I just finished my rotation at the medical examiner's office. The "couple of pounds" of tar in the lungs was probably more mucus than anything. Also, they may well have been washing out the congestion caused by respiratory depression. But it's quite unlikely that it was "tar", though I'm sure plenty of black carbon, or "anthracotic pigment" came out too. I say this because a smoker who dies of, say, a sudden massive…

Yeah, this made me wonder, in lieu of a lung transplant, what if they just took out a smoker's lung and gave it a good wash and then stuck it back in again? It sounds like you are saying that alot of other things go wrong with such a lung, not just a buildup of tar.

Or leave it in and use a splash of perfluorocarbon to prophylactically rinse it out a bit, once every couple of years or so.

Even if the breathing liquid does not dissolve all the lung crud directly, the mechanical action of filling and draining the alveoli might clear some of it out or thin it enough for the cilia to move it.

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#88

Post by [deleted] »

Nadya wrote: post #84
kindlez wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try our platform: http://snapzu.com We have tons of differentiating features from reddit and HN.

>Thank you >Your invite should arrive no later than July, 2026. HAH! I had a good laugh about that one. >Seriously though, want in today? >Just send out a quick tweet to help others discover Snapzu and as a token of our appreciation we will bump you to the top of the list and send you an invite code within 24 hours Might take you up on this later today. ;)

[deleted]

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#89

Post by gommm »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #7
InclinedPlane wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern LA is orders of magnitude safer than London in the '60s and earlier. Those conditions would have been comparable to some parts of China today.

Hmmm. Wonder how long I should continue to live in Beijing? :( (today is a clean air day, but my wife and I had this argument already once this week)

I left Shanghai because of the pollution... And Beijing is even worth...

Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

#90

Post by zem »

beefman wrote: post #82
Sukotto wrote: post #71

I quite liked this other article of his on being banned from ever returning to the remote island of Tristan da Cunha. http://laphamsquarterly.org/travel/take-nothing-leave-nothin...

I read this article twice and am completely at a loss for what hurtful secret was revealed! Do you know?

the islanders considered the story of hagan and booy scandalous in a "skeletons in the family closet" sort of way, and his book essentially dug up the old scandal again.
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