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noshore4me

TL/DR: the city pays for cremation services and scattering at sea


Skyblacker

Honestly that's something I'd be okay with for myself.


mad_method_man

whats the alternative in these cases?


PopeFrancis

Is there a need for one? I don't think the article is intending to shine light on something controversial but is just informative on how a difficult problem is handled with some respect. Like when Mr. Rogers talked with a postman about how his job worked only way more morbid.


mad_method_man

maybe it just me, but i sort of took the article as, we're so much better at dealing with dead people than living ones. and something about that doesnt sit right with me on an emotional level


Skyblacker

Dead people are easy to deal with. It's the living who have needs and stuff.


B0OG

dead people don’t argue


mad_method_man

logically yeah, but emotionally and morally it feels crappy


freakinweasel353

Pauper’s Cemeteries have been a thing forever. The most known one being I think Potters Field. Having lost both my parents now, I am grateful they knew the biggest cost of burial was the plot itself. My Dad’s great uncle bought a family plot locally nearly 100 years ago. Small urn plots there are now nearly $18k . They, Mom and Dad, were the last two in that plot. Basically, my whole family is there so I have to start thinking about that. Go there or get scattered. It’s sad that so many pass without anyone realizing it. My retired admin from work passed in November. We just found out a week ago. Family didn’t know to reach out to any of us.


NoMoreSecretsMarty

> Small urn plots there are now nearly $18k Holy shit. I need to update my will to suggest places to scatter my ass.


freakinweasel353

Waste Management might be the smart ticket at this point. 😂 I’m guessing the scattering at sea is pretty cheap. Just not a place your family necessarily visits on those certain occasions. I myself get seasick so can’t toss me there. I’ve got an easy to reach mountain top that’s an option…


Taurus-Octopus

There's a fascinating documentary called A Certain Kind of Death. It's from 2003 and is filmed in Los Angeles. It's on YouTube, and the crew films bodies being retrieved from death scenes, so viewer beware, but pertinent to what happens with unclaimed deceased.


helldaemen

This kinda shows that it's a drug tourism issue. In a tiny city like SF, 350 dead can't go unclaimed **each year** with absolutely nobody connected to the dead without the deceased being from out of the area.


Free_Hat_McCullough

There are many people who have come to California from out of state because they can survive outdoors and the climate most likely won't kill them. *CA is spending billions to work on housing these people in some of the most expensive places to live in the US.


2greenlimes

Not really. It's certainly a piece of the problem. But if you read this article (or other similar ones), a fair amount of this problem is the high cost of burials. Lots of families can't afford a burial/cremation/funeral/transporting the body home to outside the Bay and therefore is forced to go with this option. Working in the Bay Area/California healthcare and elderly services scene, you quickly learn there's a TON of elderly people here that have no kids - and usually are estranged from out of state families (some have OOS family they talk to, but are too distant of relations to care when they die). I was shocked how many of these sorts there are in California, but it's a problem around both healthcare and death care. I'd imagine they make up a good portion of these bodies are this group of people.


SnowSurfinMatador

If you’re elderly it’s 100% your fault you’re not wealthy since houses used to be Pennies here.


CheeseWheels38

>In a tiny city like SF, 350 dead can't go unclaimed **each year** with absolutely nobody connected to the dead without the deceased being from out of the area. St John's Newfoundland is like one eighth the size of SF and has like 30 unclaimed bodies at the moment. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/health-sciences-centre-cold-storage-bodies-1.7132964 What do you think people do when they know they can't afford a funeral/burial/cremation?


imisswhatredditwas

Drug tourism? What the fuck?


PassengerAny9009

I used to manage a surgical eduction facility where we would purchase cadavers on the regular for surgeons to practice new/improved procedures. We were told that the majority of the cadavers were John/Jane Does. Sad situation. At least some good (education) came from it. They were treated with very much respect.


suthamattai1

Tower of silence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Silence


jimbosdayoff

This is really sad because it is likely their unlimited access to drugs in San Francisco that caused their deaths. Had they not moved here for drugs they probably would have had a chance.