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Taking the mobile to the grave

  • 08-11-2005 3:37pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,219 ✭✭✭✭


    According to a Swedish paper 94 % of young Irish has mobiles and this has affected the tradition of putting things in the casket with the dead person. Some people now bring their mobile phone to the grave, albeit switched off (in case it's needed there is battery left??) Funeral directors Peter Flanagan and Keith Massey in Dublin says that this is getting more and more common.
    I don't now, it's both kinda sweet and creepy at the same time...


Comments

  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭xzanti


    I remember hearing a story on some radio stn last year, a family buried their dead daughter with her fone and about a year later they started getting txt messages from her number saying stuff like "Hi, Im ok" and "I love you" so they went to the phone company distraught and it turned out they were recycling the phone numbers which hadnt been used for a long time... Id say it was quite distressing for the family but nothing they could really do.. So dont know if its really such a good idea???? Dont know if Id like the thought of it tbh :confused:


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,146 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    xzanti wrote:
    I remember hearing a story on some radio stn last year, a family buried their dead daughter with her fone and about a year later they started getting txt messages from her number saying stuff like "Hi, Im ok" and "I love you" so they went to the phone company distraught and it turned out they were recycling the phone numbers which hadnt been used for a long time... Id say it was quite distressing for the family but nothing they could really do.. So dont know if its really such a good idea???? Dont know if Id like the thought of it tbh :confused:

    So how did the person who got the recycled number manage to get hold of the previous owners parents number then?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 130 ✭✭TheIceMaker


    oh god thats awful


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭xzanti


    robinph wrote:
    So how did the person who got the recycled number manage to get hold of the previous owners parents number then?
    I dont think they had it... I think it was either pot luck that the person with the new number had just mis-dialled someone else and by chance it was the family member or somehow her numbers where put onto his sim card when he got the recycled number.. It was on the Jerry Ryan show about a year and a half ago..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,921 ✭✭✭✭Pigman II


    I wonder what the coverage is like thru 6ft of dirt and a wooden casket?


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  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭xzanti


    Pigman II wrote:
    I wonder what the coverage is like thru 6ft of dirt and a wooden casket?
    Just like being with Meteor id say


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,146 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    xzanti wrote:
    I dont think they had it... I think it was either pot luck that the person with the new number had just mis-dialled someone else and by chance it was the family member or somehow her numbers where put onto his sim card when he got the recycled number.. It was on the Jerry Ryan show about a year and a half ago..

    Its proably also listed as being a load of bollix on the snopes site, but I can't find it there right now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 374 ✭✭IceHawk


    robinph wrote:
    So how did the person who got the recycled number manage to get hold of the previous owners parents number then?

    I heard about this. Apparently, the family would send the dead girl messages sometimes as a way of remembering her or something. So this person gets a new phone number and people he doesn't know start texting him/her.
    robinph wrote:
    Its proably also listed as being a load of bollix on the snopes site, but I can't find it there right now.

    It's true. It was the family of the dead girl who phoned the radio station. Unless that was a prank.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 333 ✭✭audge


    robinph wrote:
    So how did the person who got the recycled number manage to get hold of the previous owners parents number then?
    I know this story, every morning since the person died, their dad txt a "Good Morning Beautiful, I love You and I miss You Always" message. So the evil person receiving the texts decided to start replying.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 491 ✭✭*Lees*


    Omg! :eek:

    Frikken Weeiirddd!!! :eek:


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 284 ✭✭Rantorama


    robinph wrote:
    Its proably also listed as being a load of bollix on the snopes site, but I can't find it there right now.
    Nah,it's true heard it myself,definitely not a prank


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,739 ✭✭✭Naos


    Hmm thats odd. Would have assumed If I bought my mobile number I could keep it as long as I like, regardless if I use it or not, seeing as its mine..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 240 ✭✭She-Ra


    audge wrote:
    I know this story, every morning since the person died, their dad txt a "Good Morning Beautiful, I love You and I miss You Always" message. So the evil person receiving the texts decided to start replying.
    omg! why would you do that?!?! thats a nasty, cruel thing to do to anyone... her poor parents. i love my phone but i think something like that would cause too much trauma so maybe i'll leave it behind!!


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭xzanti


    I can see the sentiment behind it alright but its definately open to abuse.. Maybe bring the fone but leave the sim card behind ?? I dunno.. still, would be even more weird if messages started coming through then :eek:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,263 ✭✭✭✭Eoin


    xzanti wrote:
    I can see the sentiment behind it alright but its definately open to abuse.. Maybe bring the fone but leave the sim card behind ?? I dunno.. still, would be even more weird if messages started coming through then :eek:

    The problem is that the number is recycled so it doesn't matter where the SIM is. And the above is a true story, according to someone who works for the operator. From what I remember, they gave the new person a new number and retired the old number so it wouldn't be recycled.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,502 ✭✭✭MrPinK


    audge wrote:
    I know this story, every morning since the person died, their dad txt a "Good Morning Beautiful, I love You and I miss You Always" message. So the evil person receiving the texts decided to start replying.
    If I was getting texts from someone every day I'd reply too. Unless they started with "Hello my dead daughter", how would the person with the recycled number know that the texts weren't meant for them? They most likely had no idea someone was trying to send messages to a deceased loved one, I'd hardly call them evil.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,078 ✭✭✭tabatha


    my dad died this year and we buried him with his mobile. he was really possesive over it so we left it in his pocket.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 333 ✭✭audge


    MrPinK wrote:
    If I was getting texts from someone every day I'd reply too. Unless they started with "Hello my dead daughter", how would the person with the recycled number know that the texts weren't meant for them? They most likely had no idea someone was trying to send messages to a deceased loved one, I'd hardly call them evil.

    Fair enough, they weren't evil for replying, but they didn't just call the person and say "who is this? why are you calling me?" or even send a text of that nautre, they started playing along saying stuff like "I love and miss you too". I know they didn't know the full story, but you can see how it would freak the parents out, so I guess from their point of view it was kinda evil!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,252 ✭✭✭Funkstard


    If that is true, wow, imagine getting a message from your dead daughter.....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,219 ✭✭✭✭biko


    tabatha wrote:
    my dad died this year and we buried him with his mobile. he was really possesive over it so we left it in his pocket.
    Tab, I am sorry to hear about you father! Guess the mobile is now so important that it's up there with other important stuff that we want to take with us. Personally the phone is not so important to me but my laptop is another matter altogether...


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 222 ✭✭crazymonkey


    A similier situation happened to a friend of mine, When her brother died they buried his mobile with him, she would text the no, every so often when she found herself thinking of him, after a year she got a reply to a text, the number had been recycled,, she was very upset about it,,


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 520 ✭✭✭Xcom2


    biko wrote:
    Personally the phone is not so important to me but my laptop is another matter altogether...

    What is the chance of getting a signal from Irish Broadband six feet under? :confused:

    X


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,227 ✭✭✭✭Sparky


    so say in 300 years from now when say we discover bodys, we will be wow its a nokia from 2005, woah those people were ancient how did they use those things. :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,359 ✭✭✭Sarsfield


    I'm sure it must contravene some waste management laws. Batteries especially need to be disposed of professionally.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,579 ✭✭✭Pet


    Sarsfield wrote:
    I'm sure it must contravene some waste management laws. Batteries especially need to be disposed of professionally.
    I was just about to say that. It's a stupid and irresponsible thing to do; I really hope it doesn't catch on.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,472 ✭✭✭✭Our man in Havana


    After how long do they start recycling mobile numbers?


  • Moderators, Regional North East Moderators Posts: 12,742 Mod ✭✭✭✭cournioni


    Funkstard wrote:
    If that is true, wow, imagine getting a message from your dead daughter.....
    Zombie text! Imagine the look on the faces of her parents if vodafone had released the Lucozade ad. Especially with the hand coming up out of the grave with the phone in it... :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,190 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Mear wrote:
    Hmm thats odd. Would have assumed If I bought my mobile number I could keep it as long as I like, regardless if I use it or not, seeing as its mine..
    You don't buy your mobile number. You're just given the use of it. It's essentially a rental agreement.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 569 ✭✭✭failsafe


    After a year of not topping up the phone get's disconnected and then the number is put back into the system 6months later. So it's essentially a year and a half before the number goes back on the shelf.

    I work in a mobile call centre and have dealt with a call like this from a guy who started to get replies from his dead daughter's number and he was very upset but unless somebody makes a request for a number to be kept active (or just tops it up once a year!) the number will be recycled. It'd pretty freaky to see all the same.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,648 ✭✭✭dundalk cailin


    makes sense to recycle numbers after being unused for so long, but the thought of gettin messages/calls from dead relatives numbers is scary...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,263 ✭✭✭✭Eoin


    makes sense to recycle numbers after being unused for so long, but the thought of gettin messages/calls from dead relatives numbers is scary...

    Absolutely. I'm sure no operator would have a problem with retiring the number if informed about the situation, but it's probably one of many details that a family wouldn't think of.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,648 ✭✭✭dundalk cailin


    but they should after reading this! you have a year and a half after all to infrorm them


  • Posts: 8,647 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    a friend of mine was buried over the summer wit her phone too!it was so sad to see a 16year old die!


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