Yes, about eight or ten IIRC. Once I was drafted at the last minute when one of the assigned pallbearers(a grandson of the deceased) got cold feet. Why do so many churches have such steep steps?
HYE attended a funeral for someone you never met in person?
Yes, a few times, for the parents of friends. Not often, though.
HYE decided it’s better to have a closed casket, no matter how skilled the funeral director’s staff is?
Never had to make that choice but I’ve certainly questioned the wisdom of the open casket choice at a friend’s funeral. I’m sure the staff were skilled and dedicated but there are limits.
HWE known anyone who wanted to attend a funeral but was too emotionally upset/drained to face it?
Yes. My baby sister would/could not attend Daddy’s funeral. We had a doctor give her an injection of courage ( valium, I guess) but it knocked her out. She slept 18 hours. Later in the week i would’ve given my first born for one of those shots. I hadn’t slept in days and I was just done with family and friends needing stuff from me. Horrific time.
HYE felt a human level of grief for a pet?
Yes, I was really sad when my poor old dog died; it’s 8 years ago now and I still tear up a little remembering her.
HYE heard someone at a wake or funeral make a comment that was stupid, thoughtless, mean or otherwise out of place?
At a funeral for a post-op transsexual friend, the priest talked about how God would fully restore the damage “he” did to “his” body.
HYE put the lime in the coconut and drank it all up?
Yep, when in the Caribbean I always buy rum, limes, coconut, bananas, etc. And we drink it all up! One of my rasta friends in St Martin will hack open a coconut for me right on the beach.
HYE had a boilermaker?
Nope, nor have I been tempted.
HYE been to Franklin, Tenn.?
Not as far as I can remember, though I’ve been to Tennessee. I do, however, live within 10 minutes or so of Franklin, Virginia. It’s a fairly small town centered around a Walmart and a bunch of restaurants, including a fantastic Mexican restaurant named El Ranchero. I always get the “Three Amigos” dish there. Every bite is pure awesomeness, especially when I ask for them to add broccoli.
Can’t say I think much of the hospital there, though. They don’t even have sheets of paper to write on; they have to use paper towels. I am not making this up.
Have you ever been to Africa?
Yes, I spent a couple of days in Senegal and also went through the Suez canal by boat.
Re. boilermakers, I haven’t had one myself but was with someone who drank it too quickly and fell down drunk.
HYE felt sleepy after eating turkey?
Yes, yes I have. I think it was psychosomatic. Plus I over ate.
HYE fell asleep at an odd time and awoke and thought it was the next day?
Oh, yes. I woke up at 7 o’clock at night and thought it was 7 o’clock in the morning. I freaked out: “Why didn’t you wake me up for school?”
Have you ever read a Sherlock Holmes story?
Yes. Many, many times. I’ve read them all.
HYE attempted to write a mystery?
Not as an adult, but as a youngster i used to draw my own ‘Mystery Comics’
Have you ever fallen asleep while attending a church service?
I’ve felt my eyelids get a bit heavy, but don’t think I’ve ever actually fallen asleep.
HYE fallen asleep during a very loud concert?
Yes, I fell asleep at a Blondie concert at the Ontario Theater in Washington, DC in 1978(9?). A friend got free second-row tickets from the record store where he worked. It was a weeknight and I had been burning the candle at both ends for a while. I remember finding our seats and then being elbowed in the ribs at the end of the concert - nothing in between.
HYE seen a bird of prey make a kill and eat it?
Yes-a squirrel was crossing the street in front of me at work when a red tailed hawk swooped down and grabbed it, the landed on a nearby building and ate lunch.
HYE been in a submarine?
Yes, and I bet a lot of other Midwest Dopers near Chicago have too.
HYE experienced a wardrobe malfunction in public?
Yeah, with a pair of ill-fitting pants. I also once had someone in my high school gym class pull down my shorts (but not my underwear) in front of everyone. I called him an asshole to his face, and then he tried to get me in trouble for saying that. (Didn’t work. The teacher felt it was justified.)
Have you ever competed on a cross-country team in school?
No, but both my dad and my eldest son did (many years apart).
HYE met David McCullough or another famous historian?