11JAN09 OPEN FORUM FUNERAL CHATTER ©
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Host_John: Hello jp
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hrbeckham: Good evening no topic tonight?
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hrbeckham: howdy
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hrbeckham: what do you do that your families most appreciate?
hrbeckham: Dvd's collect flower cards etc????
hrbeckham: send limo or car to bring them to appointment?
hrbeckham: leave a rose on the pillow at a house call???????
hrbeckham: anything?
Host_John: Howard they appreciate TLC
Host_John: constantly checking on their wellbeing
hrbeckham: compassion and empathy?
Host_John: updating them on status of release of remains
Host_John: staying on top of issues
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Host_John: commucating
Host_John: this past week in the Bahammas
Host_John: we saw the Travolta's loss
Host_John: the remarks I heard that the funeral home made about the condition of their son's remains were a surprise to me
hrbeckham: a friend of mine handled the state side service
Host_John: my colleagues are not allowed to talk about any remains
hrbeckham: I have not spoken with him
hrbeckham: we can not disclose details
Host_John: such a private issue, I was disapointed
hrbeckham: usually we say nothing
hrbeckham: Hippa
hrbeckham: strange what people call up and ask sometimes
hrbeckham: they get really pushy when we decline comment
mactj2: i didnt really follow the travolta story...what did they leak to the press?
hrbeckham: "oh we are really close to the family..." Then you will understand why we can not comment on your question
Host_John: Mact I got it via e-mail
hrbeckham: The funeral home in the Bahamas leaked the cause of death to the press
Host_John: remarks on the condition of the child's remains
mactj2: ahh
Host_John: that is the Medical Examiners or coroner's job not ours
hrbeckham: they showed a lack of professional ethics by doing so
mactj2: right
Host_John: or poor training
hrbeckham: or a bribe
Host_John: a lesson we all should take on being sure we remind our colleagues to keep the family's privacy
Host_John: every family
hrbeckham: yes
hrbeckham: indeed
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Host_John: in Boston a fire truck reportedly lost it's breaks and hit parked cars and a brick building killing one fire fighter
Host_John: we also had a 59 car pile up close by here in southern NH
Host_John: you never know what tomorrow will bring
hrbeckham: a tragic loss
hrbeckham: lousey weather
hrbeckham: *^&%$*# Global Warming
Host_John: the family has asked for privacy and the media is doing live remotes down the street from the firefighters home, they should arrest those TV crews
mactj2: anything for a story
hrbeckham: how the heck do you think they feel....news media has left the likes of Ed Murrow and real reporting...now they follow Jerry Springer and sleeze reports
mactj2: lets see if they broadcast the funeral live , like the other 2 in 2007
hrbeckham: should funerals be broadcast?
Host_John: with the families permission
mactj2: i dont think so
hrbeckham: several companies now offer web casting of funerals by funeral homes?
Host_John: I think it is a way we can all attend the funeral
Host_John: if the family wants it try to provide it
Host_John: we have only had one request
hrbeckham: we have recorded on dvd a funeral last year for a family
Host_John: way below .25% of the families we serve
mactj2: when i say broadcast...all the local news stations broadcast the funerals live
mactj2: not just an internet broadcast
hrbeckham: if families knew it was available would they ask for it?
hrbeckham: understood
Host_John: we have had success faxing the telecasters a request for privacy they have always honored it
Host_John: I was very surprised to see this down the street live set up
hrbeckham: we have been trying to offer high end photo memorial cards cost over $2 each look great but noone is interisted in spending the extra money
mactj2: it was a slow news weekend...the snow and the accident...then the pile up today
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Host_John: same here Howard selling non essentials is not what it was
Host_John: we include photo prayer cards with full service
hrbeckham: it is New England, it is winter, and the snow is the big news is that correct?
mactj2: yup
Host_John: Snow is big news here in New England
mactj2: Big production too...multiple live shots...live shots driving on the roads....weather teams
harper: anyone here unit price(casket and full service together) besides me
mactj2: no...everything is itemized
Host_John: as we understand the law, we always itemize
hrbeckham: I used to have a friend at the most popular tv station in town and he said on the 25 min local news broadcast weather had 10 min, sports had 8 min, news had 7 minutes
Host_John: when you have arrangementsyou think will gain the attention of the media how do you handle it?
Host_John: Howard it is all about ratings
harper: our general price list is itemized, I think only your general price list has to be itemized in this state
Host_John: ratings get advertizing revenue
hrbeckham: we package casket, vault, and services as well as itemize
Host_John: each state is different Harper
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Host_John: when we get a funeral that may have media attention we ask the family do they want us to co operate or how to proceed
harper: I know
hrbeckham: we tell media where they have to position themselves
mactj2: family has the ultimate say
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Host_John: they are not allowed on the property unless the family authorizes it
hrbeckham: if it is high profile ther is usuall police there and they offer to help us run a smooth service
hrbeckham: it helps
Host_John: walking up to the camera people won't work they are on assignement
jp: sorry on a removal
mactj2: if they are already there...they will find a way to get their story
Host_John: Understood JP
Host_John: do not deal with the media on site, call their boss and s/he will get them to move if possible
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brud: How much snow did you get today John??
jp: was looking forward to this and now i have three stacked up.
mactj2: always the way jp
Host_John: we got 8 inches
Host_John: light fluffy stuff
Host_John: did you get snow too?
brud: light and fluffy here too - forecast was 3-5" and we got closer to 6-8"
brud: always nice to get a little extra////////////
Host_John: where R U
jp: you guys enjoy the forum,,i will be in the prep room,,maybe next week,,,have a great week everyone,,god Bless!!
Host_John: OK JP
Host_John: until next time
brud: mid-coast Maine
Host_John: understood
brud: about 10 miles to Camden, Me
Host_John: arctic cold coming in this week, the oil man will be smiling
brud: did you see any headlines in your area about a 2 year old boy that accidentally strangled himself a couple of days after Christmas? Parents were from Harvard, Mass.
Host_John: OMG no did not see that
Host_John: how did he do that?
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Host_John: terrible
Host_John: can happen to anyone of us
brud: accidental - got himself hung up in his crib. The family was at their vacation home on an island off the coast.
brud: up here in my area
brud: I do 9-1-1 dispatching on the weekends, and unfortunately had to answer that phone call for help
Host_John: no media reports down here about the kiddo so sad
hrbeckham: brb
brud: was Dec 27th
Host_John: sad one
Host_John: often we are helpless
brud: makes you realize just what a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year you have compared with some families
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mactj2: very true brud
Host_John: helps us all understand why so many don't like the holidays
brud: there is a young mother and father that will always be reminded of being at their vacation home for the holidays and the terrible outcome
mactj2: i hate too see deaths on christmas...they will for ever remember that day as the day mom/dad died
mactj2: or in this case their child
brud: yup
brud: I've been a 9-1-1 dispatcher for 16+ years, involved in the funeral industry for 242 years, and an Emt for 18 years --- and it still hurts to see such a young child's life snuffed out
brud: 24 years
Host_John: how do you think Obama will do?
brud: O'bummer
Host_John: I have a lot of hope in him
brud: I don't think he has made wise choices in some of his cabinet positions
mactj2: he's walkin into a mess all over
Host_John: Brud, you should not spend time remembering
Host_John: you did your job
Host_John: you save so many
Host_John: concentrate on your successes
brud: the call is past me, life must move on, just like any other death, not the first child I have dealt with in any of the jobs
brud: and unfortunately not the last
Host_John: Brud how do you think Obama will do?
brud: O'bummer ------ I don't think he has made wise choices in some of the cabinet choices, don't care for his large $$ stimulus package, .......
brud: It is nice though to see a country that once enslaved the African American race now elect one to the highest elected position in the land
Host_John: I will give him until June to get us motivated
brud: 1-20-2013
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Host_John: I feel we are exporting too much money
Host_John: we buy too many imports
brud: that's probably true
brud: why would you put a man in charge of the Cia when they have no experience in Intelligence?
Host_John: you have to use people you can trust
brud: it just shows that O'bama doesn't have any past history of running something? He was never a governor of a state. Was he ever a business owner and had a bottom line to protect?
Host_John: give him some time, he will do well
brud: time? January 20, 2013
Host_John: you make a good point about his in experiance
hrbeckham: already had more families come in who we have to carry than in the first 6 months of last year
brud: I mean, the man doesn't even know how many state are in the union? Quote of him saying that he had been in 57 or 58 states to campaign. He doesn't have a clue about what he is going to govern?
hrbeckham: one casme in and said that some other fh that had his loved one was only interisted in money
Host_John: He won
brud: Did he win the popular vote or just the electoral college vote? I can't remember.
hrbeckham: I offered to handle it for cash advances and merchandise at cost wanted me to carry almost everything
Host_John: he won both as I remember
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hrbeckham: told him it would be best to go to fh that has loved one and see if they would cremate for what he had
brud: like you said, he won, he's been elected
hrbeckham: best I could suggest to him
brud: with the economy the way it is Howard, you're probably going to see more of it
brud: Maybe O'bama will bail-out your funeral home
hrbeckham: too bad economy will be mainy socialist in 4 years
hrbeckham: comrad
brud: sad but scarily true
brud: the founders of this country are rolling over in their graves
hrbeckham: well bed time for ol' Bonzo here God bless, and may God bless & protect America
hrbeckham: good night
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brud: There was a picture of Obama circulating during the campaign season of him carrying a book that he was supposedly reading. Title of the book was something along the lines of "The Post-american World", and if memory serves me correctly - the premise of the book is what the world will be like when Am
brud: night John -- have a great week
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Host_John: night Brud
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embalmer69: any good topics tonight
Host_John: Open Forum
embalmer69: ok
Host_John: we were chatting about privacy
embalmer69: where is everyone from
Host_John: I am from Lovley Lowell Massachusetts in the USA
Host_John: & U
embalmer69: Wa state
Host_John: you got floods there big time on TV
embalmer69: yes, weather really hit us hard with snow and then it warmed up
Host_John: so sorry for the floods, they are devistating
embalmer69: yes they are, gotta go such good timing, have 1st call
embalmer69: goodnight
Host_John: Night
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Host_John: Time for me to scoot too, Good Night All