I hate even asking this question, but in an 8-10 situation couldn't we be dealing with the deaths of multitudes? Should there be something addressing how to go about safely burying people to prevent the spread of disease? Maybe this wouldn't really apply to rebuilding, but if diseases were being spread because of a lack of knowledge in this area, there may not be many left to rebuild.

I'm really sorry that this was such an awful question.

Kimberly

-- Kimberly Hott (ckhott@urec.net), August 26, 1999

Answers

Kimberly, this question has been discussed quite a bit. It IS relevant in situations such as the earthquake aftermath in Turkey, for example. If you're into stocking supplies, consider getting a large quantity of lime. Lime is being spread liberally in the areas of devastation in Turkey.

Our soil is rocky and hard to dig. When our 100+ pound dog died, we simply couldn't dig a hole deep enough to bury her. We kept her body liberally covered with lime and buried the last few bones when they were stripped. It was unpleasant, but not too smelly. The reason I bring up the dog is not to make light of your question -- I'm about the same size as the dog was, and my husband and I discussed the problems with burying a human.

Cremation might be an option, if you have a large quantity of fuel. Quicker, but the smoke can be seen for miles and may attract unwanted attention.

-- helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), August 27, 1999.

Perhaps you should avoid trying cremation unless you know that you can maintain a near 2000 degree heat for several hours (assuming the burning is in an open form). If not successful the results present evem a greater risk for disease.

-- cliff high (chigh@vallier.com), August 27, 1999.

A few gallons of gas and a good backhoe will do wonders to create graves.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), August 27, 1999.

You touch upon something which I have thought would make a great publicity stunt to develop y2k awareness.

Some city like New York or LA should already be hiring large contractors to be digging a huge mass grave. Even a small city should do it. They could use the hole for a large underground parking structure or a sports stadium if the body count never required it.

Most people are willing to dig a hole to bury a friend or relative. But most people would have to be paid to dig a hole to bury dozens of fellow suburbanites. Better to use bulldozers when diesel fuel is still available. Better to dig the hole now before the winter freezes the sod.

The sad truth is that if there are a lot of bodies, then we will just stack them up in houses where we can shut the doors to keep out the rodents and keep in the smell.

One of the traditional lessons given to some Buddist monks is to sit every day for several weeks next to the corpse of a fellow monk who died. The meditator develops a very graphic knowledge of what happens to the body. The monk should have no illusions about his material fate or the beauty of his body today...it will all in time yield the result he now sits and smells.

Few people have the chance in their lives to stack corpses on top of eachother. Those who do, eventually overcome the nausea and slide into a grey area of the mind where a body is allowed to be limp and lifeless...and most find that the soul blesses us with moments of beauty, even among the dead.

Let us pray most of us still do not have this chance.

Thom

-- Thom Gilligan (thomgill@eznet.net), August 29, 1999.

don't be sorry,burial rictuals are one of the things that can be traced back to the genesis of all human cultures world wide...that and worshipping cave bear skulls.Funny but true.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), August 29, 1999.

Let the dead bury the dead, sorry I mean-Let the pollys bury the dead, sorry I mean- Let the programers bury the dead, sorry you know what I mean...---...

-- Les (yoyo@tolate.com), August 29, 1999.