September 27 ~ 2011 Funeral Procession

I was recently driving through a small town and was reminded of an odd 'custom' because it is certainly not a traffic rule.  I came to a 4 way stop while going through Great Bend Kansas.  I was on the major highway passing through town.  I was turning and before I did so i saw the hearse.  The procession was proceeding through the intersection, as is the right of such processions.  The man in the SUV next to me wanted to go straight & seemingly was tired of waiting so he nearly rammed one of the cars.  I sat & waited.  When it seemed as if the last car in the procession was through I turned.  As I traveled along the highway, now behind the procession, I was struck, as I am every time I am in the country, by the common courtesy of pulling off the road to let the procession pass.  Both directions of traffic do this.  It is nice.  It is uncommon in big populated areas.  But I was in the middle of Kansas.  Not a big population.  Not by a long shot.  So cars were pulled over and the procession was headed to the cemetery.  I wasn't in a hurry.  I had a sleeping 2 year old and time on my hands.  I enjoyed watching the folks pull over and pay respect.  One little old man got out of his car & took his hat off while he waited.  These were all strangers yet not strangers to death. 

When you die, no matter where you were in life, hopefully people will just give your family that little bit of courtesy and pull over as a sign of respect.  It's like saying... "Hey, I don't know you or your grief but I am a human sharing the planet with you and I understand you are sad and I tip my hat to you."  We may be to far past this little courtesy in the big city... we may not even notice a funeral procession unless it is surrounded by police & then we are more inconvenienced.  My moral high ground today just wants to remind you to slow down.... be thankful for what you have ... and pay people, even strangers, a little more respect today than you did yesterday.