Friday, June 04, 2010

Friday Foodwit

I think some of us have either done it or thought about it - crashing someone else's wedding for the food and free booze? No, really? Never . . well this week's Friday Fuckwit took it to a new level, enterprising to say the least, it not a little short lived, no pun intended:

 Funeral home puts end to 'grim eater'

Posted Thu Jun 3, 2010 11:48pm AEST
A New Zealand funeral home has stepped in to stop a fake mourner who was attending up to four funerals a week to stock up on food, even filling up tupperware containers to take home.

Harbour City Funeral Home director, Danny Langstraat, told local newspaper The Dominion Post that the "grim eater" appeared at up to four funerals a week in March and April to enjoy the finger food but clearly did not know the deceased.

The funeral company grew so concerned that it took a photograph of the man, thought to be aged in his 40s, and distributed the picture to its branches.

"Certainly he had a backpack with some tupperware containers so when people weren't looking, he was stocking up," Mr Langstraat told the newspaper.

He said the man was "always very quiet and polite, and did as the rest of the mourners did in paying his respects".

Mr Langstraat says the man stopped coming after one staff member took him aside and told him he could come to funerals but could not take food home with him.

Funeral Directors Association president, Tony Garing, told the newspaper that such cases happened in the industry occasionally but it was difficult to stop people from coming or call their behaviour theft because funerals were usually public events.
 
Hmmm . . . food for thought?

It's a soggy wet weekend in Sydney, it has been for over a week now so not much happening other than blow drying a couple of very wet neddies and rugging them up for the onslaught of yep . . more rain.

Hope it's sunnier in your neck of the woods! Have a great weekend.


I'm actually in love with this man . . have been for decades
 
 

37 comments:

nick said...

I noticed that story. I love his blatant cheek - not only feeding himself but stocking up for later! One way of reducing those supermarket bills....

We're having a little heatwave here in Belfast - more like Aussie temperatures!

Alan Burnett said...

Oh "Respect" as they say these days. This chap is no scrounger, he is a performance artiste. Just imagine the number of flights of fancy that have been entered into to explain the attendance of a strange man at the funerals of old maiden aunts.

Bimbimbie said...

It's been patchy rain with wind the last couple of days.

Oh yes Peter Gabriel ;) I loved his duet with Kate Bush Don't Give Up.

I've heard of similar tales of people turning up at funerals when they've not known the departed but treating it as a personal deli, just takes the cake*!*

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Oh, we call those people artf---s when they come to art openings!

You may have Peter, I let him go years past, but that voice! -J

Brian Miller said...

nice weather here...an interesting tale...i would imagine it a bit creepy...and with some of the food people bring at that time, a bit dangerous as well...smiles.

Betty said...

Fell for Peter when I first saw him with Genesis (1975 - good grief!!) He still has the most gorgeous twinkle in his eye ;) Mercy Street is probably my favourite track of all.

As for the funeral man - I am still laughing.

laughingwolf said...

saw that item online... he has balls, at least! GRRRRRRRRR

wv: scone

Roy said...

Well, that's one way to save on the food budget. And thanks for the Peter Gabriel - that's one of my favorite of his songs.

California Girl said...

um, what can you say? he must have been REALLY hungry.

Lisa said...

I was heading for the comments, but backed up. Enjoyed it.

Jason said...

Hah! About the rain that is. Unusually sunny and warm over here these last few weeks for a change.
I read that article, very funny. I know of a few Old Biddys who do the same. They don't go as far as bringing the food home but they do attend 3/4 funerals a week

Granmo said...

Ok, I have now decided that I shall leave a box of filled tupperware containers at my funeral. They will be just inside the main door, over to the left by the window. Please help yourself. And bring some friends to help make up the numbers.

Janice said...

"Grim eater"...now, that's funny.

Jay said...

Good heavens! Damn cheek - I'd be livid if he turned up at one of my relative's funerals. And who says funerals are public events? Doesn't the family book and pay for it? Surely then, it's invited guests only?

Ronda Laveen said...

What a career move...Grim eater. People never cease to amaze me. Wishing you dry, sunny skies. At least the guy was respectful.

Anonymous said...

The Grim Eater - what a brand name!

Megan said...

Admittedly, I haven't had anyone die on me in a long while (knock wood!) but I don't ever remember seeing food at a funeral home.

The food is always somewhere else, after.

Kate said...

That is dreadful - and here's me off to a wedding in the morning ..... not packing my tupperware tho!!!!!

Anonymous said...

We bury the dead in Ireland.

Gledwood said...

Maybe he's homeless and enterprising... or poor...

Or very bored.

Tom said...

that story made me think of Leo Sayer's song...'you make me feel like dancing' ...weird, huh?
..and I'm pretty sure i used to have that P.Gabriel album; the whole record was good

i beati said...

we deserve a great one all of us

Susan at Stony River said...

No way... but I wonder what his story is? How hard up do you have to be to eat at funerals??

Peter Gabriel... yum!

Buy Electronic Cigarettes said...

I have never done that to crash some one's wedding for food, but I would like to appreciate you for sharing the videos with us.

River said...

I wonder if the man was/is one of the many homeless who has found a way of getting enough fresh food to eke out his centrelink allowance. Perhaps he could have been pulled aside and asked to come back after the funeral was over and the mourners gone home? Any left over food would be his then, as leftovers from these events are usually just thrown out...

Carolina said...

Funerals here aren't worth bringing your Tupperware. Coffee with dry cake mostly.

Thanks for sharing Peter G. with us. Hadn't heard that song for ages. Will send some sunshine your way. We have plenty ;-)

Mrsupole said...

I'm with Megan on this one, I have never seen the food at the funeral parlor before, we usually just go to someone's house or to a nearby restaurant and it pretty much turns into a party to celebrate the person's life. Maybe it is just a California thing and then again the funeral parlor people want to go home as soon as possible or they have to do another funeral just after that one. We have almost 36 million people in this state and most are down here so it is very crowded, and with all the people dying here each day we only have so many funeral parlors since they have digging up the older graves to put the new ones in. Yup, too many people and not enough space. People should just do like I do and keep them in their house. Makes it so much easier to visit them and you always know they are not gonna get dug up and replaced. But geez those remains are freaking heavy. I just had to move some last week.

God bless.

Kath Lockett said...

I *love* the idea of a Grim Eater - at least he's bothered to dress up appropriately, be polite and respectful.... and take away food that's likely to get slung out by the caterers afterwards!

kj said...

Hello hells!

Why did this strike as funny?
And then maybe sad. Maybe this man found this an acceptable way to get food.

We had a couple crash jess' wedding. All dressed up for a Friday night bash of a time.

We made it easy for them. My son-in-law just told them to help themselves. I they even got a flower arrangement from one of the tables. Too funny

I've been thinking of you. How much will it cost to call you?I can't make damn skype work for
me

xoxoxo
kj

lettuce said...

yeah, peter gabriel.... mmmmm.....

hope the weather cheers up for you soon

Anonymous said...

It is a bit morbid to me.

Subby said...

What was that '70's Barbara Streisand movie ( gaaah, on th' tip of me tongue! ) She'd search the obits and crash the "better" funerals; usually acting as a long lost relative...

Anonymous said...

All you get at the funeral homes here is a Monte Carlo or orange cream biscuit.High point might be a sugary Kingston whatever-it-is. The guy must be truly hungry, after all you'd hardly go there to soak up the atmosphere.He'd be welcome to our funerary biscuits anytime. Hope they don't store them next to the forhaldahyde! Great clip of Peter Gabriel.

Anonymous said...

...missed out on the m in formaldahyde - same as missing out seeing the Tim Tam on the tray!

Gledwood said...

I'm thinking of investing in some mysterious robes and doing the rounds of Middle Eastern and North African wakes (do they have wakes? Surely they do...) yeah anyway I might give that a try. And I'll bring notepad and pen to ask ladies of the house for the recipes.
I'm quite into Middle Eastern food ...

Anonymous said...

I mean, there is being cheeky and there's being cheeky... that just takes the biscuit (in a tupperware apparently!)

Vagabonde said...

I like that name “grim eater” I think it would make a good title for a mystery. As for weather it is really warm and humid here already. It is 90 F or 33 degrees C with very high humidity and thunderstorms every afternoon. The trees are growing so much I think they are going to move into the house.