Recently, I participated in a funeral procession for my cousin. The 40-car procession in Oak Park was reverent, orderly, and respectful.
The funeral procession I witnessed last week on Madison Street in Oak Park, on the other hand, was neither reverent, orderly, nor respectful. The procession took up two lanes of Madison Street going west. The mourners were speeding, hanging out of car windows and standing through sun roofs, yelling and swearing, causing me to back up on the sidewalk in fear. I wondered what was coming next.
Oftentimes when there is an altercation, the word “disrespect” as in “he/she disrespected me” is spoken. It seems that these processional mourners showed a lack of respect for the deceased and, in my opinion (and the people around me), the living.
I wonder what I am missing that I find this behavior so strange and abhorrent.
Rosemarie Nowicki
Oak Park
