# Civil Service in the Afterlife **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810 "2004-06-23T15:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thirsty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Thirsty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirsty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/1 "2004-06-23T15:58:05Z")
After dealing with a clerk recently, I was wondering where the idea of “If you commit suicide, in the afterlife you become a civil servant” came from? That way I am prepared to deliver knowledge to the snotty indentured ones. ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/2 "2004-06-23T16:01:39Z")
Until now I never thought that idea was commonplace. The only reason I am not saying “huh?” is that I wrote a screenplay on that very subject. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/3 "2004-06-23T16:04:22Z")
Obligitory mention of [Beetlejuice](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/) where this saying plays a central role in the movie. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/4 "2004-06-23T16:24:51Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Obligitory mention of [Beetlejuice](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/) where this saying plays a central role in the movie. > > Zev Steinhardt _Beetlejuice_ is the first (and until now, only) place where I’d heard this idea. ---
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/5 "2004-06-23T16:30:45Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > _Beetlejuice_ is the first (and until now, only) place where I’d heard this idea. Same here. Is it just an invention of the writer? Since they (suicide victims) can’t be jailed it’s kind of a community service sentence. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/6 "2004-06-23T16:33:52Z")
There was a b&w movie I saw a looooonnnnng time ago that kinda did the same thing. It wasn’t the civil service though but a crew on a ship. The ship brought you to heaven but suicides never left the ship. They worked on it for eternity. ---
**Author:** ![Thirsty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Thirsty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirsty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-service-in-the-afterlife/251810/7 "2004-06-23T16:54:09Z")
I’ve heard/read it before Beetlejuice came out. Interestingly searching the Internet doesn’t reveal anything close except maybe this, [http://www.industrialfog.com/library/runningfrommyself.html](http://www.industrialfog.com/library/runningfrommyself.html), which is still an echo of the idea.