How dificult is it not to fall into an open grave?

CrankyHaus · 07-03-2020 10:55AM

HBC08 wrote: »

If the law and legal system facilitates such arseholery then we cant be surprised.
This sh1te dorsnt happen in most countries and its not because they're sounder than us

This is the thing. The legal system incentivises this sort of behaviour. Gradually it becomes more and more normal and the social taboo is relaxed. Eventually you reach the point where not committing fraud or taking unreasonable claims has to be a deliberate decision that comes at a significant opportunity cost. In short it corrupts the entire society.

colm_mcm · 07-03-2020 10:56AM

Whilst we probably all agree that the compo culture has gotten out of hand, you’d have to look at the likes of the undertakers like Allied funeral services who have a large chunk of the market, and have considerable assets. These are proper businesses and are organizing multiple funerals per day.
If this was any other business that oversee a big hole in the ground, it would be a given that they mitigate the risk of someone falling in.
I’m not suggesting there be big neon signs, or the requirement for mourners to watch an instructional video - but at least some organization with regards to where people stand etc.

looksee · 07-03-2020 11:15AM

colm_mcm wrote: »

Whilst we probably all agree that the compo culture has gotten out of hand, you’d have to look at the likes of the undertakers like Allied funeral services who have a large chunk of the market, and have considerable assets. These are proper businesses and are organizing multiple funerals per day.
If this was any other business that oversee a big hole in the ground, it would be a given that they mitigate the risk of someone falling in.
I’m not suggesting there be big neon signs, or the requirement for mourners to watch an instructional video - but at least some organization with regards to where people stand etc.

Or better yet, just have the immediate family go to the graveyard - there is really no need for the milling throngs that swarm all over graves then have everyone standing out in the rain while the whole lot shakes hands with the mourners. Its almost a competition to be standing as close as possible to the family, and nowhere is sacrosanct in the scramble to be the first to shake the hand of the chief mourner.

Meanwhile, any graveyard is a minefield of graves, kerbstones, bocketty wet bits, the heap of soil from the grave and the grave itself. If you are likely to be so overwhelmed by the need to commiserate with the family that you can't see where you are putting your feet, don't go to the burial.

biko · 07-03-2020 11:19AM

It was claimed that Ms Walsh was extremely .... embarrassed by the incident

This is probably why she sued.

she had been struck in the face by her handbag as she fell.

I can picture it now

Bobblehats · 07-03-2020 11:21AM

Deleted User wrote: »

"It was claimed that Ms Walsh was extremely emotionally upset and embarrassed by the incident."

She ought to be more embarrassed by taking this to court.

That’s what is is one of those embarrassment cases and the embarrassment was huge I imagine, huge. Paltry payout in fairness

xzanti · 07-03-2020 11:22AM

Sleeper12 wrote: »

When at a cemetery I expect to see uneven ground & even holes in the ground. While at funerals I don't expect signs saying "BEWARE hole in the ground". I know that there is a bloody big hole in the ground because I saw them lower aunt Kitty into it less than 5 minutes ago. I even flung a hand full of muck at her coffin as a good old sendoff.
[/URL]

Aunt Kitty

:pac:

Dr Strange · 07-03-2020 11:24AM

Maybe she saw an opportunity and did an Uncle Albert?

Bobblehats · 07-03-2020 11:24AM

xzanti wrote: »

Aunt Kitty :pac:

She effectively dipped into the kitty. Into the coffers

Irishphotodesk · 07-03-2020 11:29AM

She was very camera shy when attending court too ... Obviously still embarrassed by the event (she was hiding behind a younger man - I'm guessing a son, possibly an heir)

Ps. It was me that took the pic for the papers.

In general when someone is camera shy coming in.... They know the media will be interested in their story, had a guy a few days ago use a surgical mask to hide his face - took it off after he went through security, only problem for him was that he was the first person I photographed wearing a mask in Ireland and his pic was published
... So his effort to hide from the cameras actually caused him to get published, if he had just walked in instead of trying to cover up.... He would not have been published lol

Seamai · 07-03-2020 11:38AM

I remember being at a funeral about 25 years ago, I was quite far from the grave and couldn't see anything when in the middle of the prayers there was a furore at the graveside. I thought that maybe someone was overcome with grief and had collapsed but no, word filtered back that some nosey old biddy of a neighbour who had to be in the thick of it fell into the grave when the side gave way. I'm sure it was distressing for the family but I couldn't help seeing the funny side to it.

stevedublin · 07-03-2020 11:41AM

It bad luck to fall into an open grave, similar to walking under a ladder.

Be right back · 07-03-2020 11:41AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

"It was claimed that Ms Walsh was extremely emotionally upset and embarrassed by the incident."

She ought to be more embarrassed by taking this to court.

And having her picture in the paper. Not too embarrassed to go to court though.

glynf · 07-03-2020 12:14PM

When I was a kid, I used to walk my grand-aunts dog. Part of the route was a shortcut through a graveyard. He was well behaved-for a spaniel, so i used to let him off the lead. One late summers evening I was walking him through the grave yard. It was getting dark, so lots of shadows on the ground.

The dog was sniffing around a freshly dug grave, it had two scaffolding planks and a sheet of wood covered in green felt or similar covering the hole. Of course the damn dog slipped in between the wood planks and into the grave. No choice but to move the cover and jump in to get him out. It had rained heavily that day, so by the time I was finished struggling with the little bollix, I was covered in mud, including my face.

I pushed the dog out first, and pulled myself up using one of the planks. I was somewhere between annoyed and getting a bit anxious-it was a struggle getting out of there-so I was swearing like a good thing, calling the dog all sorts.

When I got out there was an elderly couple standing there staring at me, I'll never forget the look on their faces...

TL;DR graves are a bastard to get out of

Gloomtastic! · 07-03-2020 12:21PM

glynf wrote: »

When I was a kid, I used to walk my grand-aunts dog. Part of the route was a shortcut through a graveyard. He was well behaved-for a spaniel, so i used to let him off the lead. One late summers evening I was walking him through the grave yard. It was getting dark, so lots of shadows on the ground.

The dog was sniffing around a freshly dug grave, it had two scaffolding planks and a sheet of wood covered in green felt or similar covering the hole. Of course the damn dog slipped in between the wood planks and into the grave. No choice but to move the cover and jump in to get him out. It had rained heavily that day, so by the time I was finished struggling with the little bollix, I was covered in mud, including my face.

I pushed the dog out first, and pulled myself up using one of the planks. I was somewhere between annoyed and getting a bit anxious-it was a struggle getting out of there-so I was swearing like a good thing, calling the dog all sorts.

When I got out there was an elderly couple standing there staring at me, I'll never forget the look on their faces...

TL;DR graves are a bastard to get out of

Great story even if it’s made up!

jmreire · 07-03-2020 12:35PM

Grave diggers insurance just gone through the roof......will now be much more expensive to die and be buried....

BattleCorp · 07-03-2020 02:48PM

Leg End Reject wrote: »

This will start new health and safety nonsense, all mourners will soon have to stand behind barricades a safe distance from the open grave.

To be honest, I find it strange that you don't realise that if there were proper health and safety rules in the graveyard, this incident wouldn't have happened.

You can't have an unprotected opening on a building site so why is it acceptable in a graveyard?

I wouldn't be too hard on the woman. She was at a funeral, probably reasonably distressed, so mightn't have realised where she was walking.

The grave was covered with the green carpet thing and the lady didn't realise that she'd go into the grave if she stood on it.

Gretas Gonna Get Ya! · 07-03-2020 02:53PM

I wonder did she go in before or after the coffin?

If she went in beforehand, she could just wait until they started lowering the coffin down... then shout "Hey, be careful... you could kill someone with that thing!"

the purple tin · 07-03-2020 03:00PM

'She also claimed the open grave created a trap for her.' :pac:
You'd think she was a bleedin toddler. If that happened to me I'd keep me gob shut about it.

Raconteuse · 07-03-2020 04:55PM

This keeps just reminding me of the saddest and one of the funniest Simpsons episodes ever:

https://youtu.be/I8BZ5cNm-XQ

jaxxx · 07-03-2020 05:01PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Great story even if it’s made up!

If this was on the Graham Norton Show, I'd be pulling the leaver though

jmreire · 07-03-2020 07:33PM

I wonder if this is the very first insurance claim from some one falling into an open grave??? It's not something that I'd say happens very often...most people not standing that close to the edge.

Potential-Monke · 07-03-2020 07:56PM

BattleCorp wrote: »

To be honest, I find it strange that you don't realise that if there were proper health and safety rules in the graveyard, this incident wouldn't have happened.

You can't have an unprotected opening on a building site so why is it acceptable in a graveyard?

I wouldn't be too hard on the woman. She was at a funeral, probably reasonably distressed, so mightn't have realised where she was walking.

The grave was covered with the green carpet thing and the lady didn't realise that she'd go into the grave if she stood on it.

I'm having trouble detecting the sarcasm there...

BattleCorp · 07-03-2020 07:59PM

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I'm having trouble detecting the sarcasm there...

Funny enough, I'm not being sarcastic. There should be protection to stop people falling into graves. It's reasonably forseeable to think that someone (admittedly stupid) could fall into a grave.

If it was a workplace, an unprotected opening like that wouldn't be allowed. You'd need edge protection to stop someone falling in.

Potential-Monke · 07-03-2020 08:06PM

BattleCorp wrote: »

Funny enough, I'm not being sarcastic. There should be protection to stop people falling into graves. It's reasonably forseeable to think that someone (admittedly stupid) could fall into a grave.

If it was a workplace, an unprotected opening like that wouldn't be allowed. You'd need edge protection to stop someone falling in.

Oh, right. We already have protection to stop falling in. They're called eyes. The same eyes that saw the deceased being lowered into within the previous 10 minutes most likely.

It's a joke. What's next, the person carrying the coffin from the church pulls a muscle and can sue the church?

I'd love to get the full story here. As mentioned above, she was probably one of those busybody types rushing to be one of the first to shake their hand (again) at the graveyard. The more I think about this, the angrier I'm getting.

jmreire · 07-03-2020 08:06PM

BattleCorp wrote: »

Funny enough, I'm not being sarcastic. There should be protection to stop people falling into graves. It's reasonably forseeable to think that someone (admittedly stupid) could fall into a grave.

If it was a workplace, an unprotected opening like that wouldn't be allowed. You'd need edge protection to stop someone falling in.

Given the nature of the occasion, and the center of attraction being the grave itself, ( pardon the pun ) with everyone being aware of it's purpose, and with all eyes on it...hard to imagine anyone allowing themselves to fall into it.

iamwhoiam · 07-03-2020 08:09PM

BattleCorp wrote: »

Funny enough, I'm not being sarcastic. There should be protection to stop people falling into graves. It's reasonably forseeable to think that someone (admittedly stupid) could fall into a grave.

If it was a workplace, an unprotected opening like that wouldn't be allowed. You'd need edge protection to stop someone falling in.

Honestly though anyone attending a funeral and in a graveyard would or should be well aware of the possibility of an open grave . Do we need signs now to alert us that the grave is open ? Its not like she was 5 years old and never been near a grave before
We had a funeral lately , we guided the small children and told them to be careful
We held their hands while they threw flowers on the coffin . We presumed the grown adults would know to be careful .

Masala · 07-03-2020 08:10PM

Anyone know how much did she get???

Suing the gravediggers is a bit far fetched?? What didn’t she sue the priest..??

Or the family???

What did the Funeral director do wrong...

In my town.... the neighbors dig the grave as a favor for the grieving families. Good luck finding those lads if there was a claim...

Redneck Reject71 · 07-03-2020 08:20PM

Hard to miss a big hole in the ground. She should have gone to Specsavers,heh.

the purple tin · 07-03-2020 10:56PM

Pronto63 wrote: »

Sorry folks but am I the only one that had a laugh out loud moment reading this?

It’s like a scene from a sitcom.

Which fictional character would you like to see this happen to or has it actually happened to?

My suggestions:

Victor Meldrew and Mrs Bouquet

It happened to Leeland Palmer during his daughter Laura's funeral, although he didn't fall in he jumped.

BattleCorp · 08-03-2020 11:35AM

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Oh, right. We already have protection to stop falling in. They're called eyes. The same eyes that saw the deceased being lowered into within the previous 10 minutes most likely.

jmreire wrote: »

Given the nature of the occasion, and the center of attraction being the grave itself, ( pardon the pun ) with everyone being aware of it's purpose, and with all eyes on it...hard to imagine anyone allowing themselves to fall into it.

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Honestly though anyone attending a funeral and in a graveyard would or should be well aware of the possibility of an open grave . We presumed the grown adults would know to be careful .

Redneck Reject71 wrote: »

Hard to miss a big hole in the ground. She should have gone to Specsavers,heh.

I absolutely agree with all of you. She should have been more careful and been looking at where she was going.

But the fact remains that she fell into a hole that had no edge protection. It sounds stupid I know but if any of you fell into such a hole in work, even if you were well aware of it, you would probably win your case if you took it.

Would I take a case in such circumstances, I very much doubt it. I'd be too embarrassed.

How dificult is it not to fall into an open grave?

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