Voice from the Grave: Can You Hear Me Now?

Complete the following sentence: Cell phones are
a)    convenient
b)    essential
c)    annoying
d)    a curse upon humanity

Even if you could never imagine giving up your own cell phone, you might choose c) or d) after being in the frustrating position of trying being distracted by someone else’s private cell-phone conversation in a public place like a movie theater, a restaurant, or a meeting. If you’ve wondered how anyone gets so attached to a phone, you probably haven’t heard about the latest trend.

According to Ed Defort, publisher of American Funeral Director magazine, one of the top funeral requests today comes from people who want to be buried with their cell phones. Other gadgets, like Blackberrys, Game Boys and iPods are also popular take-it-to-the-grave items, but apparently none so popular as the cell phone.

In a 2007 survey of common funeral rite requests conducted by British charity Age Concern, being buried with a mobile phone was second only to being cremated with a pet’s ashes. (Other common requests involved performing various actions to make sure the survey respondent was actually dead prior to burial.)

Now, we’ve heard of people who want to be buried with a bottle of Southern Comfort or some memento or other personal belonging, so maybe going into eternity with an electronic device isn’t totally off the wall. But you may be surprised to know that some family members, like the wife of a Manhattan attorney, not only place a cell phone in their loved one’s casket, but also continue to pay the phone bill or have the phone number engraved on the headstone. Sure, the battery eventually loses power – but then there’s always voice mail . . .