When my Dad died in New Zealand the funeral director steered my sister and I to the cheaper coffins saying "Your Dad wouldn't want you to waste your money. He loved you." That was an independent funeral home. And he was right, Dad would have been furious if we'd spent thousands of dollars.
Honestly was thinking "wow this is fairly straight-forward for Caitlyn, I'm surprised it's not slightly weirder..." then the ending credits with her hit single "Revenue Enhancement" started and I was like "there's my girl."
I really don’t understand what’s so scary about dead folk anyway. They’re just that……dead people. They can be a little disconcerting at first cos it’s pretty self evident that whatever made them, “them” is gone, but if they’re family, theyre family.
@@catzkeet4860 I think some of it is because so many americans have never really seen dead people. Once you've spent time alongside your dead loved one during a wake, or been in the room when people are very ill and dying, dead people stop being so scary and more just part of life. The reason for that is so long and --capitalismed-- complicated. I like that--if they're family, they're family. Although when the bodies get oozy it does start to get a little icky.
The man who did my old ladys funeral knew we were going to cremate after the ceremony. I wanted her to go out in style and saw a wooden casket for 3600. He told me "you know were gonna burn this. I have a cheaper wooden casket that still looks nice and we can put some flowers on top and we can save about 1600. I was damn grateful for him. I was a hot mess at that time and he could see i was barely keeping it together. He helped me pick colors, her urn and everything came out to under the amount of her life insurance. He even gave me a coupon to go to a nearby diner with my family after. That home is owned by Dignity which is definitely a corporation that owns hundreds of places. But that man was not of them lol.
And that by far is the most important thing. Often times we hear the stories of the big bad this or that, but rarely hear the good. I worked for SCI for 6 years and I've worked for small family funeral homes as well. They both have good and bad within. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I used to do customer service for a variety of huge megacorporations. It was always nice to find out you were working with an outfit that would let you treat their customers like people, instead of wallets with legs. Nice, but not typical.
I had the opposite when my Father died and I needed a viewing and then a cremation. They were pushing a fancy expensive coffin on me while I wanted to rent one. So I ended buying the cheap one and getting a lot of flowers. Still mad about it. I think renting coffins would be a ok thing for a viewing as what contamination can occur to a already dead person?
When my grandmother died, my mom had her sent to the local funeral home that everybody had used for generations. Mom had very little money, and was hoping for a relatively low cost funeral. The funeral director actually lied to her about legal requirements, like embalming being required by law. in tears, she called our minister, and with his help, had Grandma transferred to another funeral home, where Grandma was handled with dignity and a reasonable cost (and no embalming). Mom made sure to tell everyone she knew about her experience.
A lot of respect to your minister. It breaks my heart to hear these businesses taking advantage over people who are going through one of the hardest times of their lives. Thank you so much for sharing this. I hope you and your mother are doing well.
My dad did not want to be embalmed but he wanted a viewing. Funeral director here in North Carolina said we are Not supposed to have a public viewing without embalming...so we had a private viewing "family" only. The people who wanted/needed to see him could come.
A lot of people don’t realize that embalming isn’t required by law it is just a tactic used to make an extra buck and of course the grieving family is going to get it because there not thinking straight.
My daddy lives next door to a O'Keefe funeral home in Ocean Springs, MS. We used O'Bryant O'Keefe in Pascagoula, MS when my mother suddenly passed away 16 years ago. They were truly wonderful to us. Their services didn't stop after the cemetery either. They personally brought all plants from the funeral home to my daddy's house. They helped my daddy get into a bereavement group and they took turns actually driving my daddy back and forth to those meetings because he was just too distraught to do anything. They are wonderful and we developed a true friendship that went beyond business practices.
Now I'm crying. I am so sorry for your loss, but blown away at how wonderful and caring that family is towards their community. I am so happy your family was able to benefit from it, and hope you're all doing better now.
It's great to hear that good people in society occasionally win against exploitative corporate profiteers. But hearing from the people those heroes have helped makes such stories even better. Thanks for your comment.
As a Black person I have to say that I love how you're unafraid to talk about race and I appreciate that you approach it with cultural sensitivity. I love your channel.
I second that emotion! Honestly, I’ve learned more of my own culture history in the few years I’ve followed YOUR UA-cam channel than in ALL my years in education (and I’ve been teaching since the 90s!)👊🏾✊🏾😍
What did I learn? I learned this is another example of black Americans making WP wealthy …yet again and by choice this time. It’s an interesting story but not one I’m proud of.
@@PrimordialChaos07 Mr. Gary gets a percentage of that money....thats how he became so wealthy to begin with. Usually if you get a judgement over 1 million the lawyer gets 33% which is a super nice chunk of change. It was not a matter of Mr. Gary making some random white person rich....it was a matter of him adding a cool extra 50 million dollars to his own estate.
At the end of the of the day it is about respect - for those gone and those that remain. Peace. I have done in AUS a 'BARE" funeral for me when I go - cremated my Parents and the waste of money is extraordinary.
@@PrimordialChaos07 While this is true, I do feel like the nuance of the fact that the Loewen Group was actively preying on and denying black communities services and the O'Keeffe funeral homes were willing to serve black families is a factor that turns it into a bit of a minority "rights" landmark. There's obviously no way to tell what the demographics of who the O'Keeffe served or even that O'Keefe himself wasn't rascist (realistically, it's possible for the time frame he grew up in, though the fact that he sought out a black lawyer and *didn't* deny services to minority families in a notoriously segregated industry are both very possible points to him not being) just because he did allow and help black families with that dignity, but the fact that he could have, and no one would have batted an eye because it would have been not just culturally acceptable, but also actively culturally normal means that he likely was genuinely providing a service to black families. This point frames it as the very mixed jury fighting back against people still trying to oppress them in their most vulnerable moments, as *they* were ultimately the ones to knock Loewen flat on his ass and destroy a corporate conglomerate trying to fleece them at their most vulnerable. While it may not have been a perfect scenario for blacks winning, perfect should not be an impediment to progress, which I personally think lets this stick as a landmark case for minority rights, because it specifically let black voices be heard and have an impact on their very real futures. It's the kind of affirmatory case for the long passed civil rights movement that needs to happen for said movement to stick where black people can start using their voices without being impeded by the law, in this case to say "We want services that give us the option to choose them of our own free will that will treat us with human decency, regardless of whether or not an individual may choose to use." That doesn't sound like much, but it's just a reality that that wasn't a luxury afforded to many PoC barely even a generation ago in the time frame of when this happened. Not being perfect doesn't mean that it wasn't progress to be happy with.
During the height of Covid in New York state, with bodies piling up in refrigerated trucks, family members were frantically calling their EAP Services to access their free legal advice. WHY ??? Because the pre paid burial services their loved one paid for were not honoring the contact. Those prepaid burial services were owned by corporations. They wanted cash.
If you have a prepaid arrangement with a local funeral home and they get bought out, your contract is not with the new owners. They do not have to honor it. Not sure how they can do this, but that’s why burial insurance may be a better option.
I definitely did not expect to hear the words “Mississippi” and “SCI” while watching this video…on my lunch break…at the SCI funeral home I work at…located in Mississippi…My jaw is dropped. Every single thing you said is the reality of the sugar coated semi-truthful practices are told to me by my funeral home. I have never put the pieces together until now. For those of us in starting positions in the Death Care Industry and consumers, thank you for all you do, Caitlyn.
My mother literally said "No, we're going with the cheapest option. In his life, he bought generic brand everything to save money despite having it, he'd roll over in his grave if we went with an expensive box to put in the ground"
I have a feeling that in the (hopefully) distant future when my dad passes away my family is going to do the same thing. He's always shopping around for the best quality at the lowest cost especially when it comes to big purchases. Wouldn't be right do not do the same for him 😅
Cheapest funeral for my dad was $5000. No embalming no makeup. They didn't even trim his nails his beard. They combed his hair clothed him ..closed his mouth. We had a private viewing...graveside service my cousin the reverend officiated. The plot was also $5000. But he pre-purchase this about 3 months prior to his death.
As a funeral director and current employee with the O’Keefe’s, I have to say with pride and lots of love, we still serve all members of our community ❤️
He has a page on Wikipedia. I just looked him up. He really was a war hero, had all those children, took down the funeral industry, and did so much more before passing away in 2016 at the age of 93. A life well lived!
both of them work together its not one or the other. the wife handled a lot of the business and the father did a lot around the house. don't be so brainwashed that makes you think a healthy marriage is being a slave to a man JFC feminism has done a number on young women!
@@mromatic17I agree, it worked like that with my grandparents in the 30s through 60s. Granma took care of everything organisational and financial and 8 kids, granpa took care of the operation. It was not unheard of that it was only ma who could read, hence she read the Bible to the family, having the kids and pa devoutly listening in silence to God's Word. So called manly businesses continued by women after their husbands died of desease, in war or accidents are numerous.
@@HansOvervoorde who TF would stay with someone who did nothing all day? women are told that men don'tdo anything and they're his slave... yet none of them can actually find a man or they'd know how it actually is. feminists are female incells!
When my Mom passed she left us written instructions. When we saw the caskets all very expensive we were told to ask and now please show us the reasonable caskets. When he asked how would your Mother feel about that we just showed him her written instructions. Also when he asked about open casket she had written what she wanted (closed).
That's good she wrote something. No one in my family wants to talk about anything, leaving it to the kids which has been ok but...ugh. I'm making my mom write something when she gets older I ain't dealin with my crazy family
This was an incredibly thoughtful thing for your mother to do, like a last protective gesture to make sure you weren't taken advantage of, she sounds like a card
i think your mom was one sharp cookie. good on her for leaving you solid help for what was to come. one last "i'm the mom, i take care of things" for you to remember her by.
I honestly think I would absolutely LOSE it on someone with the audacity to ask "What would your Mother think about you asking for the cheaper caskets?" as I was trying to plan her funeral arrangements.
I grew up with the O'Keefe family. My close friend was Adam O'Keefe (who died in 2010 in a car accident.) I remember hearing all kinds of stories from his family about the drama. I'm so glad you told their story. The whole family is tough but great people. They really do care about their community.
Hi Caitlin, when my dad passed in 2003, we went to the funeral home our family had been using for decades. When my siblings and I went to choose a casket, the funeral director took us to the selection room. He told us up front not to choose anything on the left side of the room because he knew my mom even with the life insurance, could never afford it. As we were choosing various services, he dissuaded us from a number of things because the cost was adding up. We didn't in our grief, even notice. We still had more than a reasonable send off for our dad at a price we could afford. Now that was one helluva moral and ethical gentleman. Keep passing on this great information. You and Kari are fantastic at bringing us this kind of informative material. Just goes to show there people out there who really and truly care. Thank you.
As a minister for 35 years, I've dealt with numerous funeral homes in four states. In every case but one, funeral directors are kind, compassionate, highly ethical people who are deeply entrenched in their communities and definitely want to be a comfort and not an added grief to families. If I had another life to live and couldn't (for some reason) preach the gospel, I would train to be a funeral director.
@@chrisstinnett8183 Hi Chris, Yes, funeral directors are as a rule, kind, moral, ethical, and compassionate. It is so easy to be predatory toward grieving people. That's why I admire them so much. By the way, the LORD called you to be a preacher of the GOOD (GREAT?) News. Please don't stop.
I'm an aspiring mortician, currently studying and I am employed at an independent funeral home. My calling is for green death care, but I understand that I need to go through it to get to it and learn "traditional methods." Though the funeral home I work at is "traditional," I've always appreciated that the funeral directors my funeral home have never pushed families towards funeral options and caskets or vaults they can't afford. I'll forever be thankful for that.
Coming from the OG area, holy crap does this ring true. The pressure they put on my family for the coffin upsell for my grandma was insane. I recall family gatherings where the uncles and aunties talked about “The Loewen’s”. A funeral home co-op started up shortly after that and Loewen Funeral Home was forced to leave town because nobody went there anymore. I assumed they “went under”. They were money sucking assholes that deserved nothing but a failed business for taking advantage of grieving people.
When my boyfriends father passed suddenly I took charge of calling funeral homes and the first one gave me a quote of $1800 for a direct cremation and if it hadn't been for this channel I wouldn't have known that price could easily been half that.
I had to pay $2,400+ for direct cremation for my dad. He wasn't even put into an urn. (He passed in Richmond, Virginia). My heart dropped as I was still a college student with two small children to raise. I am EXTREMELY embarrassed to admit this, but I had to use my student loan money to pay for it.😞
😡 Most of us have long been angered by the actions of big oil, while being completely oblivious to the greed of "big funeral"! 😁 Seriously though, I haven't yet had to go "funeral shopping", but I don't look forward to it...
@@a.j.9797 Don't be embarrassed, the loan money is there to give you something to live off of while you go to school. That's a completely normal expense to have and a valid use of your loan.
Caitlyn's style of storytelling, combined with the hilarious editing, makes these videos so light and just much more pleasant than you'd expect when discussing the death care industry lol
Caitlyn, I need you to know that I put this video on a playlist to listen through while I got a root canal this morning, and-as I couldn't skip anything while lying there-I had the absolute pleasure of listening to you sing "revenue enhancement" for approximately three eternities as my tooth was being drilled into. Thank you for getting me through these tough times. 💜
Your videos have helped me to come to terms with my mom's terminal illness. I am extremely close to her and facing the prospect of her passing has been the most difficult thing I've ever had to deal with in all my 28 years of life. You are an amazing person and the world is a better place with you in it.
Hi, David. My name is Christina and I'm commenting from my husband's account. I'm so sorry that your mother is ill. My family and I will pray for her tonight. God bless you both.
I'm glad you've helped out your mom and the rest of your family by preparing for what's soon to come. Planning gives many of us solace and I'm certain that no matter the strength of her illness, your mom feels the same way. I wish you peace and good luck.
My husband and I used to watch your channel together often before he passed suddenly a little over a week and a half ago, and I have a new appreciation of your videos after having gone through the process myself. I felt more prepared, and less bewildered, and I am grateful for small blessings. You do good work on this channel, both to entertain and educate.
The part where Caitlin used a picture of herself with the cut out for her lips talking about home funerals and didn’t just use her regular face “chefs kiss” comedy gold
Astounding! This is from my hometown of Biloxi, MS, and I can vouch that the O'Keefe family are very good people to their community. They have been close to my family for many decades.
Honestly? I read the title and I was like "eh, will this really interest me?" And then I said out loud "Caitlin has never let me down" and I pressed play. You never let me down Caitlyn ❤
It was so annoying but I had to listen to the whole thing. Kind of like when a parent has to sit and listen when their 8 year old has a "consert" at school.
@@SpookiCooki It could have been *MUCH, MUCH* worse! My little brothers 'favourite' song when he was two was 'It's A Small World After All'. *BUT* he would only sing the first bit, "It's A Small Word" *ENDLESSLY*. Repeating it until he was ordered by my parents to stop singing & shut up!
When my ex husband’s grandmother passed away, they used a chain funeral home in Calgary called MaCinnis and Holloway. His grandfather passed about two weeks later. This funeral home “did them a favour” by picking up the body from the morgue without proper paperwork and were about to apply all the services that they used for his grandmother. The family was furious and threatened a lawsuit if they didn’t return his body. They ended up saving thousands with an independent home…..
I never thought I’d encounter another Calgarian on this channel, I double checked your comment to make sure I didn’t read it wrong! I’m sorry you had a shitty experience with them, they sound vile.
Hello fellow Calgarian! I didn't realize MaCinnis and Holloway was a chain funeral home. Learn something new every day, and now I know to stay clear of them, that's so gross.
@@panda.with.a.pencil there is a few in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge….and their name is connected with another funeral home. I can’t remember who right now….
When we explained to a local provider what we wanted when our time, he was so shocked he gave our wishes he let slip a industry name, you want a "Shake and Bake" . Ask for a cardboard box for a urn. Good luck, best wishes.
My husband spent 35 years as a well known, very well respected Funeral Director. He even owned his own removal & embalming service for quite some time servicing 18 funeral homes in a huge Fl County. He managed a couple different funeral homes as well during his years. He was managing a funeral home at one time when out of the blue a man came in (later learned he was from SCI). Without prior notice, without time or ANYTHING, he said to my husband, "gather your things and leave." Can you imagine the shock, the embarrassment, the hell he went through? Crude, rude, nasty operational strategies. I heard so much from so many after that about how SCI cruely treated people in the funeral industry. Thank you for sharing this informative and very interesting story. My husband has sadly since passed on. And was not yet my husband during those times but I knew him and of his incredible integrity.
I worked at an SCI cemetery for 6 month. All of what she is saying is true. It was a MASSIVE reason for why I left. I joined the company to help grieving families. I did not feel I could do that there.
My dad was a freelance embalmer, known for his specialty for makeup with accident victims. In his later years he worked exclusively for a family owned funeral home in St. Louis, MO until he retired. I had them handle his burial when he passed and my mother 20 years later. I’m glad no corporations ever infiltrated the area.
I love courtroom stories like this. The drama. The pettiness. The dressing down of people and corporations that got way too big for their britches. It's not a common story in our justice system and it always feels so, so good to sit back and eat popcorn when it does happen.
Caitlin……. It’s Jeff O’Keefe……. Thank you for doing your homework on this case. There are a few inaccuracies but overall you have captured the essence of the matter.
If you want to get in contact with her, the best way is through her website! I believe you’ll interact with her publicist first, but considering she made a video about you, I’m sure her publicist would quickly pass you along to her!
When my Dad passed away in 2010, our nosey Aunt came along to the meeting with the cemetery/funeral home. The guy tried to charge my mom $1800. My Aunt, reading thru all the documents, suddenly blurted out "This is already for .... back in 1985...... The guy tried to plead innocence.... And then tried to add a charge for Taps. I am a life long trumpet player and have played taps thousands of times. I asked if he was going to pay ME to play taps for my dad.... I got the deer-in-the-headlights look...
Everyone going to make plans for a loved one's funeral should take a nosey aunt along too. The more hard-boiled the better. Or arrange it all via a pre-need form, where you can check the cheapest category in the comfort of your own home. My church has a form for members to put their choices in writing. If you don't have a nosey aunt, look for alternatives.
Wait, this is our local funeral home, who so respectfully cared for my grandmother at her passing, and his children are family friends, still running that funeral home! It was a treat for this MS deathling to see individuals who have been fixtures of our community be given a spotlight on your platform! Sending so much love to you for all of your hard work and always informative content! 💕
I was looking for this comment, knew I couldn’t be the only one who knew this family and there had to be a fellow coastie somewhere in here. Greetings from OS!
When my mother passed away, I originally planned on using the same funeral home we always used. It had been sold and became part of a franchise. I decided to shop around, not because of the price (which was high) but because my mother lived in the same city her entire life and I wanted something "local". I found an independent, generationally-owned home. All I can say is that they did wonderful work. My mother would've been pleased and THAT is what mattered to me. P.S. The cost(which I prepaid) was about $3K less than the "franchise funeral home". The only "surprise" costs were the increase in funds I volunteered to add to the "flower blanket" laid upon the coffin. It was beautiful and my mother would've been pleased. The other "surprise" was the new outfit purchased for my mother. My mother had been bed-ridden for 19 months before she passed away and the clothes at home no longer fit. Again, my mother would've been pleased. Please be well and stay safe everyone.✌️
That kind of sentimental “my mother would have been pleased” is what this industry’s monetizers/profiteers count on. How you treated your mother in life is what matters.
Watching this channel several years ago is why I insisted to my parents that they need to avoid the big chain funeral homes. When my grandmother passed earlier this year, we used the only independent one in our town (the rest all owned by Arbor Memorial) and it made a horrible time a little less horrible because they were very respectful and helpful. So thanks for continuing to educate people about the industry.
I wish my Mom and I had done our homework when choosing the funeral home taking care of my step-father. He was a REAL SOB, and the weird sardonic half smile they put on his face was spot on!
Here in Switzerland, burial services are provided by the municipality, and if needed, funereal services by the deceased’s church, to which they would have paid a “church tax” while alive. When a friend’s mother died, she asked me to tag along for moral support, so I got to see the entire process: the town hall handled it all, with it taking about an hour to discuss the details. They did it with respect and efficiency, and the cost (excluding the cemetery plot) was minimal. In the city where I live, nearly all of it is free: caskets are made by the city in a workshop for people with disabilities, as vocational training; transport and preparation of the body; burial; or cremation - all free. (Only the fee for dressing the body is not free, oddly.) As an American living abroad, it’s interesting to see how differently different countries handle things; Americans in USA are often anti-“big government”, yet end up in the hands of “big corporation”, which is often much worse. (In Europe, government is often in charge of things they consider basic citizen services, and then offers those services at or nearly at-cost, since it’s not the government’s role to make a profit.)
If any funeral industry scandal needs to be made into a film, it should be the whole Lamb Funeral Home thing you talked about in 'TRULY the Worst Funeral Director of All Time'. Between the 80's vibe, the mass cremations, organ stealing, and poisoning a rival funeral director. THAT would make for a hell of a movie!
I'd like to nominate the Tri-State Crematorium in Georgia. Granted, they weren't selling organs... just dumping all the bodies in the woods to save money on the electric bill. Years and years of just tossing bodies in piles. 🤢
Just to share: At the end, during the credits, my ferret heard your "Revenue Enhancements" lyrics and ran all over the living room trying to find out where that sound was coming from! I couldn't tell if he liked it, or he wanted to kill it! I wish you could have seen it! Love your work! 🤣😂😅
I learned a lot about the funeral industry after both of my parents died. They both died without any death benefits or life insurance. I remember frantically searching for the $25,000 life insurance my dad always told me had, but had cashed it in years before and unbeknownst to me. His cancer was a secret he kept from me, his only child. I learned he accepted hospice care on a Wednesday night and he was dead on Friday morning, in my den. I want nothing at all to do with the funeral industry. It’s predatory. I never really believed in visiting a loved ones grave. They aren’t there! Our loved ones are in our hearts and memories, and when we are fortunate enough to be visited them in our dreams.
Yes, predatory. The expenses have become unreal. We know that those that died during covid in NY who had no family to claim them, were buried a more natural way. As it was before President Lincoln preservation for travel knocked on the money train of greed. Money has taken over the minds of the people, whether you have much, or none at all, the suffering remains alive in one form or another.
I was working for Loewen during this time. Note: Willy Gary had a Gulfstream, not a B737. Loewen was buying all these firms on credit...not cash. After the judgement, I can remember the president of the funeral division telling me/us in a meeting that after payroll was met, the company had 600K in the bank.
It's so weird that companies are allowed to overextend themselves like that. It's basically a corporate Ponzi scheme, thinking if they get big enough, make enough acquisitions, that they'll make it all right in the end. In the meantime, the CEOs and board are paying themselves the big bucks and leaving the company itself struggling.
I think it’s only just. Nobody can think straight when you have a loss, especially when it’s unexpected. They take advantage of families when they are grieving. One thing I found is that when you realize you can’t do nice things for your loved one any more, you end up spending money on their funeral. Thanks for keeping it light! I love your sense of humor!
I love all the quick, humorous insertions, but the “Revenue Enhancement” track had me in tears 🤣🤣. This may be my favorite video that you have released, and I love many of your videos. Also, it reminded me of the Kardashian funeral episode. Hollywood always stealing ideas. I’m informed and thoroughly entertained.
My mom, being Scotch-Irish could squeeze a nickel and the buffalo would give milk... so she made her own funeral plans with Neptune Society and was cremated, because she said she doesn't need that old body, where she's going she'll get a new one! She didn't spend much and now she's waiting on dad's mantle for him to join her and they'll both go to the National Cemetery where they saved them a free spot for his war service. By the way... all those credits at the end... looks like a list of all your satisfied customers! My wife is a funeral director, but she actually works at the tissue bank processing donors now, since the funeral industry went all crazy.
Actually it's "Scottish"..."Scotch" is an alcoholic beverage!! I love the idea of becoming a part of a reef...but I'd rather my ashes not be in an urn...just toss me into the air and wherever my ashes land...that'll be my last, forever home....
@@superpredator4096Scotch-Irish is what they call descendants of Northern Irish Protestants in America (who in turn originated in Northumbria and are just as likely to be of English heritage as lowland Scottish 🤣). We don’t use the term “Scotch-Irish” in Ireland or the UK to describe that ethnicity so we’re not very familiar with it but it is correct.
@@superpredator4096 as an explainer, Scotch is a Scots word, Scots being a Germanic language related to English spoken by people in the lowlands of Scotland. Not to be confused with Scottish/Scottish-Gaelic which is a Gaelic language native to the Scottish highlands, which originated in Ireland and is similar to the Irish language.
As a Canadian - accustomed to hearing about American companies taking over (and eventually burying) Canadian companies - I found it refreshing to hear the tables turn, and equally happy to see a Canadian get a kick to the keester as I would if an American monopolizer went down.
Hey, Mustbe, I know of at least 10 huge takeovers of companies here in the USA that Canadians came here and took over. It happens on both sides and has been growing since the early 2000's, basically it's now common practice. I see it as a melding of both our countries with businesses. I support having Canadian companies here. Also, I love Canada and Canadian people :-)
Personally I find the scariest thing about Canada is how your government has become so huge, that people always vote in favor of the government to protect their pensions. It's insane how many people work for the government. And then when Canada you guys have the nationalization of stuff like maple syrup, what, is that true? And all sorts of other stuff, and it really has hurt Canada
@@theq4602 Good ol American protectionism and tariffs have a great deal more to do with it. Plus since y'all keep buying you're driving up our prices locally.
@@claudeyaz The percentage of public sector to private sector employees is only marginally more in Canada than the US so I'm not sure where you're getting this idea. Also, maple syrup isn't nationalized? The government buys large amounts of it in order to keep prices high and reduce market flooding but that's really no different than what the Americans do with their Strategic Petroleum Reserve or as another example the subsidization of crops like corn to keep the prices artificially low. It's not like the Canadian government owns the thousand of tiny maple syrup operations.
I'm 15 seconds in and already excited that it seems like Caitlin is about to get the "Big Funeral" set all riled up again. I mean I don't want them aiming at her obviously, but you gotta love someone who makes the old guard establishment in their industry as threatened as they get about her. You know someone is speaking truth to power when power starts quaking in their boots.
I spent 6 years in the funeral industry , Learning the craft. Caitlyn's channel & her work she does is phenomenal. IV always considered Caitlyn to be 'Death Smart' , If that makes sense, Also her approach to death & how to deal with it is something that I havent seen before her & I would try to be a funeral director like how Caitlyn would be. I went above & beyond for the families I worked with & I do owe some of my success in the funeral industry to Caitlyn & the work she does. I would often refer to her videos & her first book, Smoke Gets in your eyes, to my comrades in the profession. I hope she knows that she's got quite the following.
omg! new ask a mortician!! listening while i prepare for my great grandma’s funeral today. i’m SO glad i found this channel. a death-positive approach has done so much for me getting through this. i was able to take an active role in planning, and i am not afraid. Caitlyn, thank you! truly.
I am so sorry for your loss and hope that your great-grandma's funeral is a beautiful service. As difficult as they can be it is also helpful to the grieving process, as you know from Caitlin's videos.
it was a beautiful service! she would’ve been pleased. we had her wake/birthday party afterwards, as she would’ve been 98 the week she passed. we had her favorite foods (hot dogs and cookies) and shared memories. sang happy birthday when we put her in the ground. her transition from life to death was very peaceful. 💕
When my wife's sister was killed in a motorcycle accident we went with her parents to the funeral home closest to where she had lived and where deceased family members had had their funerals. I am going to refrain from naming the funeral home chain because I don't like being sued so let's just say that this funeral home group is the SCI of Columbus, OH. She had died on a Tuesday but because it was a motor vehicle death the county morgue held the body for a full autopsy. We were finally told that we could have the funeral home pick her up late in the afternoon of the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. So her parents along with my wife and I went to the local conglomerates chapel. The chapel's director met us dressed for a day on the water and said " The funeral is going to cost you $6800 plus tax." No "sorry for your loss" or any other platitudes. I ask if he would leave us alone for a few minutes to talk it over. My in-laws were about ready to blow their head gaskets, and these were 2 of the calmest people I ever knew. I had noticed a phone on the other side of the room and promptly called my mother to get the number for John Quint and Sons funeral home where the past 4 generations of my family had had their funerals. I called Quints and they asked us to come over around 4:30 that same day. We were met there by Anna, John Sr's great-granddaughter, she was dressed in business attire and was very gracious and accommodating. She treated us like members of her own family. She helped us through every step of the process with sympathy and grace. She also won all the business going forward from a family who had never heard of John Quint's before I married into the family.
States cremate bodies for free. I have no intention of spending a fortune to have a body I'm done with treated better than it was when I was living in it.
@@do9138 Ohio only does free cremations for indigents after their body has remained unclaimed for 6 months or more depending on how long each county coroner wants to hold them. FWIW My wife and I plan on being cremated. Many funeral homes have some sort of "rental casket" that can be used for viewings before the body is taken to the crematorium.
Caitlin - long time watcher, first time commenter: Your videos are always 1.) so entertaining, 2.) so informative, 3.) so hilarious and 4.) displays your talent, creativity and joy for your passion. I so respect what you do and that you take so much pride in bringing actual thought provoking and meaningful content to this hodge podge of mediocrity. Keep up the wonderful work and I'll keep tuning in. Thanks!!!!
Hi, Caitlin. This was yet another wonderful video. I just wanted to let you know that, when my dad passed away recently, I had the wherewithal to help him pass at home and care for his body before cremation because of you. I will be grateful for the courage your videos gave me, for the rest of my life. Thank you.
Holy snot. So many likes. Thank you, kind deathlings. Losing a parent is simultaneously the end of the world and also, somehow, not as bad as you may fear. If you haven’t already done it, you will probably do it. And it will be both horrible and ok. You’ve got this. There are people ready to help and see you through it.
My heart goes out to you. I've buried my only child and it was a life changing experience. But I dread the day I lose either of my parents. Much of it has to do with losing my only child. Today, I don't deal with death that well. Not at all. I've still got unresolved issues from that. Issues that arise every time somebody dies.
@@J.C... I am so sorry for your loss. Have you ever spoken with a grief counselor about it? If you haven’t, they can help you get to a place where it dominates your thinking a little less and doesn’t hinder you as much in dealing with other traumatic events. If you haven’t done that, you should. You deserve to feel better ❤️
Same here......my mom passed at home a few months ago and I called the local family to gather to be wIth her body for a few hours and then we called the crematory to come many hours later. It was beautiful.
That’s how corporate funeral homes sell funerals though. Like beanie babies. “Don’t you want mom to have this beanie baby? Doesn’t she deserve it after a life of 90 years” so you buy it out of guilt lol
I’ve been watching ask a mortician since i was in the 5th grade (I’m now in 10th grade) and i have watched a video every day while getting ready early in the morning (i used to do crossing guard in 5th and 0 hour orchestra in 6-8th) and honestly it has made me become more aware of my death biases, so this channel will always have a special place in my heart. The light hearted content and jokes mixed with deep conversations about death drew me in, this channel in some ways has truly changed my life so seeing it hit one million almost two I can’t help but feel proud. Good job Caitlin, you truly deserve this 🫶🏼
*"REVENUE ENHANCEMENT"* The *Revenue Enhancement* song was beyond brilliant and is going to be in my head for the rest of my life. I love Caitlyn's channel so much! She's our very important death friend!
I was hired to sell pre need for SCI. My second day I watched a pre need sales person trying to convince a woman to purchase spaces in our shiny new mausoleum and dig up her husband from a veterans cemetery to put him beside her. When she resisted he said “oh ok so if it’s not important to be together it’s perfectly ok to buy only a space for yourself” and the look on her face of guilt and sadness made me lose it. I stood up and said “you’re a pos telling this woman she should exhume her husband so you can get a commission on two spaces- ma’am I suggest you leave and go elsewhere here is my number I’d be happy to refer you to a facility that puts people ahead of commissions”. She then felt brave and said a few choice words to the man. I walked her out and apologized that he put her through that. She said had I said nothing she would have felt obligated to do it she didn’t understand her options etc. I then walked in, gathered my things and told everyone in the sales office they were pigs and walked out. In just two days I’d seen so many salespeople do and say terrible things to make sales….
My grandfather was buried in a veterans cemetery, my gram although not a veteran was buried with him. Why did this woman not know that? >> Tom's Ukrainian/American wife Pam
I got in a bit of trouble for something similar before as well. I told a pre-need appointment that assuming she met the criteria (not remarried, not convicted of a capital offense, etc.), she could also be interred with her husband. She signed with us for a service, but I was pseudo-reprimanded for not giving the cemetery sales team a crack at selling her a plot at the cemetery we were associated with. Yeah, no. I'm giving options. If they want a zillion dollar funeral with all the bells and whistles, great. If they want a direct cremation, that's ok too.
Did I really just sit here and listen to the entire and incredibly long rendition of “Revenue Enhancement”? Yes. Yes I did. Only for Caitlin would I do so. Another fantastic video. I truly had no idea these shenanigans went on in the funeral industry but then again, I’m not really surprised. Something else to be aware of as my mother she’s and I age as well. Damn.
Here in Louisiana we had a group of Catholic Monks from Covington, La. take the big funeral giants here to court and win, they make high quality hand made low cost affordable caskets , the big wig funeral homes here wouldn’t let any coffins from makers other than their high dollar unaffordable coffins be used in their funeral homes , needless to say the court sided with the monks and the people who wanted to purchase those affordable handmade coffins and use them for their families , the courts said their is no monopoly on coffins the funeral homes couldn’t force you to use their outrageously expensive coffins if their were affordable outside dealers of coffins, Thank God those greedy bastards got hit in the pocketbook, my aunt a devout Catholic had a monk handmade coffin that she was buried in and it was beautiful, like a classic handmade antique piece of furniture, not fancy but good enough to put a loved one to rot in the earth in with dignity
This was a really important case, and a right people have in most parts of the US that they are rarely told about. Never buy your casket or monument from a big corporate funeral home or cemetery, at least without doing your research. They mark them up outrageously.
Interesting! I've researchers and found casket makers in Iowa. (I live in Illinois.) They are also monks. It's Trappist Caskets 16632 Monastery Road Peosta, IA 52068 I'd love to go there for a tour one of these days! I'm glad your aunt got such a nice, handmade casket!
Yep, all true. The Benedictine monks had to fight in court for years to overcome the Louisiana funeral directors monopoly on selling “funeral merchandise”. We bought my father-in-law‘s casket from them, beautiful, plain, and elegant. Far cheaper than what we would’ve been charged otherwise. I felt like Walter Sobchak with his Folgers can.
Rewatched and the "Revenue Enhancement" song still cracks me up. Hauntingly biting on the 80's. Also, realized the beginning is a take on Arrested Development. Moral of the story: Rewatching your videos is worth it!! (But you knew that, I hope?💙)
As you said Loewen Funeral Home was started in Steinbach. We lived next door to it. Ray as a teen ager was always into something. His parents weren't like that at all. Greed steps in and he was overwhelmed by all the money and glitter. So now it over.
It’s truly despicable that lots of funeral homes, ESPECIALLY corporate ones, take advantage of the bereaved just to make an extra buck. Great video as always, Death Mother!
So glad The funeral industry these days…..doesn’t take advantage of those who are grieving! Just buried my mom a few months ago after two years battling cancer, the night before she died she pulled me close to her hospital bed and told me she wanted a “simple quiet funeral and not very expensive”…. We had just buried my grandmother two years before and she saw how big of a nightmare that was, and instead wanted a little bit of money she had left to go to a few different charities. Two hours after she died my stepdad was at the funeral home…. And a few hours later he’d racked up a $27,000 bill, and it wasn’t anything extravagant or fancy. So glad the industry isn’t predatory and is totally wholesome these days. 😑😬😥
@@hullinstruments it's definitely not, that's not what I was implying. It's a shame that they take advantage of people while they are grieving. A close friend of mine died unexpectedly and when we tried to have him buried it was like 15,000 and his mom couldn't afford that much out of no where he had to be cremated and that was 5,000 and we had a small family viewing where they left blood on his hands and he was purple it was horrible. So I understand
@@hullinstruments it’s terrible. And the law is set up to prevent alternatives. My dad passed unexpectedly with no insurance in 2018. I literally had nightmares about his body laying abandoned in the hospital morgue until I could come up with $3k to give the crematorium. My mom basically decided to die & passed in 2019 & she literally wanted me to just dig a hole next to her favorite tree & drop her in with a few sentimental items. I’d rather stay out of jail. So I’d prearranged & paid a plan for cremation. We’re just not a family that could afford a burial even if it were important to the deceased. Fortunately, my mom liked cremation & my dad didn’t care as long as it didn’t stress the family. I actually have a meeting with the crematorium on Monday to prepay for myself & my partner. I don’t want anyone to have to go through that stress when I pass.
My parents pre paid a mortuary in Exeter CA. They are now both past on, my sister and I were grateful they took care of everything. Both wanted cremation, nothing else. We were in shock with grief. Thank God my Dad and Mom made their decisions and paid in advance. I learned a great lesson. My husband and I will do the same. The Family Mortuary in Exeter we amazing, and supportive during those days. I like your delivery and information. Thank you for teaching us about the Mortuary Business. Peace🌎💖💫
The musical performance playing over the patron end-credits was the best thing I’ve ever heard!!😉 Caitlyn - if you are not offered a role in the movie as the plucky and loyal embalming tech/make up girl, I will refuse to see the movie!!💖🌈💐
This song - and especially its happy-go-lucky vibe pulled off key - about a topic so coldly capitalistic as "revenue enhancement", is surely creepier than death or even corpse decomposition could ever be.
I worked for an independent, family-owned monument shop for years, and I learned a couple things there I wish every family knew that can save thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars: 1. At least in most states, funeral homes cannot legally stop you purchasing a casket somewhere else (including online), and cemeteries cannot stop you buying your monument somewhere else (including online. Up to a certain size, markers can be shipped to you by regular old fedex, anything bigger usually requires around $100-$200 freight). 2. Purchasing somewhere else can save you as much as 90% on monuments. We often saw big cemeteries with their own shops charging 16x wholesale where our prices were usually around 2x-3x (including engraving and custom design). All that granite's coming out of the same quarries and usually the blank monuments are milled by the same huge shops in China and India, not on site, with just the final engraving done to order (otherwise you'd be waiting 6 months just to get the raw stone to you). So, the actual stones are exactly the same whether you buy online or through an overpriced corporate monument shop associated with the cemetery/funeral home. 3. Funeral homes and cemeteries are not going to tell you any of this and may lie to you if you ask. Some SCI cemeteries in particular will also lose your paperwork, hang up on the monument shop while they are trying to schedule delivery and refuse to answer calls, lock delivery trucks out at the gate, and basically do anything they can to obstruct smooth installation or delivery of an outside-purchased monument. It's not a time or place when you're likely to stand up for your rights as a consumer and they know it - and they will actively try to convince monument shops it's too much hassle to "sell in" to their parks, to maintain their monopoly. Dealing with the cemeteries and funeral homes was my job, and while most of the small family/mortician-owned funeral homes and community or church/synagogue-owned cemeteries and/or columbaria were delightful to work with, some of those SCI cemeteries were absolute nightmares (coughrosehillscough).
Thank you so much for that information! "Faces of the Forgotten" channel (Ron) would certainly benefit from this info, as he buys monuments and grave-markers for those who have none, using his own money and the donations we send him .. an admirable thing to do, by a lovely and incredibly intelligent man who takes us on walks around many cemeteries around the US and tells us stories about those interred there. I know that he was recently forced to use the monument-markers insisted upon by the cemetery itself .. I wonder if he knew that's not allowed? So thank you - I'll pass that information along to him, or perhaps you might like to take a look at his channel and reach out to him yourself, on account that he often does such nice things for those who do not have monuments or even grave-markers? Thank you so much.
Caitlin I have been a cosmetologist for several homes and death has become very interesting when you study people. You are an awesome teacher. Now I also work hospice for 20 years. Life is part of death and it is all in what you know! Thanks
When my father passed in 2002, the biggest funeral home in our town had been bought by the Loewen group, as was the "other" cemetery. We chose a truly locally owned home to take care of Dad, but the other guys tried way too hard to sell us a plot in the cemetery across the river rather than in the one we wanted. This guy was such a jerk about the whole thing, and I was so upset, I wrote a play about it.
When my father passed away my mom elected to pre-buy her funeral services at the funeral home and a plot at the cemetery. When she passed 30yrs later we had to come up with 10k due to "cost of living" increases. So the pre-buy or whatever it is called, is a total scam if you ask me
Same here. My mother pre-paid for her and my dad and when she died the funeral home kept telling me "oh that wasn't covered in the pre paid services." Seriously, the casket wasn't covered.
@@firstname7470 I’m not American so my understanding is limited but isn’t casted is necessary for the ‘traditional burial’? How can the casket can’t be included? Wouldn’t that be fraud?
I think, if you get things written out clearly in advance for pre-need (this is, in full, what will be paid for, what's covered, there are no hidden additional services, the vendor agrees not to apply a cost-of-living increase), you can then hire a lawyer to make the mortician honour the contract. You have to be really savvy to know in advance to draw up that sort of contract though. And maybe some funeral services wouldn't agree to sign such a contract.
As an enlightened Alaskan who has been many times through Canada, I'll correct you now. It's Grassroots versus Corporations. Giving 'small America' credit romanticizes the idea that 'merka is special. It isn't. People who stand up to big corporations of any kind are heroes. Also, 'American' properly refers to anyone living anywhere in North or South America, and is not specific to persons living in the US.
@@DrTHC As an "enlightened" (🤣tf) Alabamian I'd like to tell you you're wrong. Everyone is special. That's all. Btw it's weird to call yourself "enlightened" and be serious about it.
I knew I had seen this video before but I just realized after learning recently that Willie Gary the lawyer is actually the grandfather of one of my close friends from college.
After planning my Grandma’s funeral, and shopping for caskets, my father told me about the tacky caskets they were showing first. He said I should remember, when the time came, that my Daddy was a Tacky Person. I promised him I would grab the cheapest one on the floor. Since then both of my parents have decided to donate their bodies to science, so I don’t have to even visit the casket showroom.
Be careful donating body to science. You never know where it will end up. I just watched a video of a vet who donated his body to science and his body ended up in a hotel in Portland, Oregon the subject of an autopsy in front of people who were non in the medical field paying to watch them cutting into him.
@@mossyoakmom8880 I'd be fine with that as long as I wasn't embalmed. Heck, I'd prefer being grilled at a barbecue for people willing to pay to try human flesh and then have my skeleton wired together and displayed in someone's home rather than be embalmed. There's nothing I hate more when it comes to the treatment of my corpse than the thought of being embalmed. Ideally I'd like to be buried with a tree or some other plants over me, no casket. But I'm not sure how much that would cost or if I'll have any relatives who'd be willing to pay for it. I'd settle for being cremated and my ashes buried with a young tree, but I'm fat enough that cremating me might be problematic for the crematorium involved.
I'm LOVING the arrested development style intro. On a more morbid note ( ok maybe not so much for this channel) when I die I just want to be dumped naked into a hole and covered with dirt. No funeral service..maybe just a family and friends get-together where they can all laugh about the stupid things I did or said, have some food and sing "ding-dong the witch is dead" as per my (the dead ones request)
My family and I are in Scotland so we don’t do embalming or any of that nonsense, and we’re very into burials being as natural as possible so I agree with you on all the points… except being nude 😂🤦🏼♀️ If my dad/mum/sibling was like “please bury me naked” I’d be very resistant to that 😂😂😂 as much as we all love each other, I’m not dealing with my dad’s naked body 😂😂😂
It's so great and fascinating to learn about American funerals. We just wash the body, do the hair, wrap the body in some cloth, pray and bury the body. It seems American funerals require much more planning by the family.
What you describe is, by far, the most sensible way to handle a funeral; at least, in my opinion. I realize there are situations where such might not be possible, but it's far more sane than the expense, the chemicals used, the land use, and sadly; the exploitation that can occur in our American system. I believe this attitude is changing - largely due to people like Caitlyn - and, I hope more people become comfortable with the idea of natural, home and family based funerals and burials.
Back in the day (like the 1800s) it was simpler, with folks passing at home and caring for the dead was taken care of by the family. Then the Civil War happened... I'm pretty sure Caitlin made video about that too lol
@@Gilliebeany Seems like we have a new viewer! Welcome! This channel talks a lot about how to do that as does Caitlyns website. The easiest way to find info is by searching a keyword like “natural burial”.
I'm fortunate that my parents took care of all their arrangements while they were still here. They're both gone now and while their passings were hard to deal with, my family and I didn't have to make many decisions when it came to their services. I appreciate Caitlin sharing this information so I can make more knowledgeable decisions for my own services.
My parents are still alive but have done the same. I think it's because they saw how much easier it was when my mom's parents passed and there was less decision making to do. I am grateful they thought about it.
The local funeral home where I live is currently on it's 4th generation. They do everything possible to help someone. They've told me lots of stories about how the corporate groups. Thanks for getting this information out there.
You're such a riot, CAITLIN! ASK A MORTICIAN is now my new FAVORITE UA-cam channel. I am binge-watching your videos for two days now, hahaha. "Revenue enhancement" will be haunting me in my dreams from now on.
I Love your video. Being a Funeral director and Embalmer, I tell EVERYONE, NEVER use a corporation owned funeral home...unless you have an extra 10 Grand to flush down the toilet!
When my partner's estranged sister passed away unexpectedly earlier this year and we had to make the arrangements, I did some quick research on the funeral homes in the area. The one we went with was still the only one he called. He was reeling, still unable to process his grief, three states away... I can easily see how a funeral home could take advantage of a family in such a vulnerable time, especially with needing more than just the brief viewing and a cremation that we went with. The director we worked with didn't have a very soothing bedside manner, but her no-nonsense attitude was what my partner needed as a no-nonsense kind of guy. I was just satisfied that they were transparent enough to have published their price list online.
Sounds sorta like the Dignity group in California. Their name has been popping up all over the place. When my mom passed, we chose the funeral company that our family has been going to for many decades, and although they were under the Dignity label, thankfully they were totally no pressure about everything. Thank you Stephens and Bean for your respect and kindness!!
Dignity is SCI. Everything she’s saying applies to the independent “family owned” mortuary I’m at. They were bought by a smaller investment group and I’m leaving and going to SCI/Dignity.
One of my closest friends went up against SCI before she graduated from mortuary school for preying on elderly people who had limited English. She won, but has been blacklisted by SCI and finding work was a nightmare.
I fell for the pre-need thing. But when I tried to reduce my pre-paid expenses, they told me I had to cancel the contract and do a whole new one, but I wasn’t getting any of the money I had paid towards the less expensive plan. Robbery.
Everyone is different, however when my brother died this year we 100% did shop around. We aren’t made of money and even cremation is pricey at the end of it all. Cheaper than burial, but still pricey. This corporate grifting and preying on the mourning families should be illegal.
There are no laws or provisions in place for funeral homes to follow on the books. You will note, even when scandals happen and bodies are not cremated or buried as ordered and paid for by the customer, no refunds are given and no punitive damages are paid. I believe when something goes wrong, the tried and not so true excuse of "hysterical, unreasonable family members" is the overused explanation for funeral problems. The funeral home for my Mom sent her death certificate to my sister instead of me, the appointed. She called daily and made such a menace of herself, they buckled. She immediately cleaned out mothers bank accounts. All the funeral home could say was, "Sorry". No recourse with the faulted commission of certificate custody.
@@dropkickmurphy4114 I appreciate your supportive words. People do some very selfish things when a parent dies. Suddenly, all bets are off because the person they were putting an act on for is gone for good. I truly know the meaning of the phrase,"She was the glue that held the family together." I hope for you that the adjustments you have to make because of the death of a family member are trouble-free and no unnecessary misunderstandings occur. It's painful enough to lose a parent without being blown away by meeting your "new" siblings.
I would listen to Caitlin read the ingredients on a cereal box, I don’t think I would find half the things she talks about interesting but I’m always intrigued by her videos. So entertaining and informative at the same time. Thank you Caitlin!!!!
there's a book called "twinkie, deconstructed." each chapter is about one of the ingredients of a twinkie snack cake. some are grown, some are mined.....
REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS! My uncle's funeral was yesterday and a good friend of mine's was last wednesday. this came right on time. while my uncle went the traditional route, my friend's wife got him a green burial locally and was planted with a tree.
I have served my country and my community for over 50years. I have family that came over on the Mayflower. My wife is from The Philippines. I started a multicultural funeral home at SCIs back door. I worked hard and managed to be a success story. Thank you for sharing such an awesome video.
Please do a story on Dr Ralph Erdman in Texas. He was a corupt medical examiner that faked doing autopsies. He also worked in small counties that did not have facilites to perform an autopsy and rumor has it he did autopsies in the back oh hearses in parking lots.
My mother is the last generation to be buried in my family. My Dad even opted to be Cremated. Funeral Homes are a thing of the past. Instead of mourning a loss, we celebrate the life we were blessed to know and love, turning the death industry into dust.
I only wish that was true ... but you can't trust them to cremate either. One crematory threw hundreds of bodies in the forest and sent wood ashes to the families. And it's expensive to fire up the the furnace so they will burn several bodies at one time. You don't know whose ashes you'll receive. I was horrified to find out many funeral homes will wait for the mourners to leave before beginning the burial (sound familiar?) then they throw the bodies into the grave and take the coffins back to be resold again & again. There might be honest funeral homes out there but the bad ones make it impossible to trust any of them. I no longer leave the dead alone in their last moments on this earth .. i park far enough to be out of the way of the workmen but close enough so they know they are being watched til the last shovel of dirt is in place.
@@briannab5296 I get where you're coming from, but I don't think they mean reputable funerary services are a thing of the past. Just that we should work to not support all the land grabbing for cemeteries, monopolistic corporate practices, and shady activities that you mentioned.
When my Dad died in New Zealand the funeral director steered my sister and I to the cheaper coffins saying "Your Dad wouldn't want you to waste your money. He loved you." That was an independent funeral home. And he was right, Dad would have been furious if we'd spent thousands of dollars.
I love New Zealand. All the more reason for me to move there one day.
Today I learned that New Zealand apparently still has hangmen.
@@wasd____ 😂😂😂
That was beautiful. Exactly what I would want my children to do. Spend that money on something that makes them happy.
Prepaid my cremation, 20 years ago. I'm sure when my corpse is ready to go, the funeral home will be sorry the 2002- rate money is all they will get.
Honestly was thinking "wow this is fairly straight-forward for Caitlyn, I'm surprised it's not slightly weirder..." then the ending credits with her hit single "Revenue Enhancement" started and I was like "there's my girl."
I’m going to be singing Revenue Enhancement for the rest of the weekend. 😩😖😡
@@soliloquylove2115 Caitlin nearly did ...
For sure! 3 minutes of that "song" at the end was the cherry in the weird sundae.
If it's not the theme for the movie, we've all been robbed.
It on a constant play list in my head now with benthams head
I like how Caitlyn's channel is about death but the scariest thing she's ever talked about is a corporation
But what is honestly scarier then a corporation.... Just think about Nestle.....
I really don’t understand what’s so scary about dead folk anyway. They’re just that……dead people. They can be a little disconcerting at first cos it’s pretty self evident that whatever made them, “them” is gone, but if they’re family, theyre family.
@@catzkeet4860 it’s like that saying goes “dead people don’t bother me, the living does”
@@catzkeet4860 I think some of it is because so many americans have never really seen dead people. Once you've spent time alongside your dead loved one during a wake, or been in the room when people are very ill and dying, dead people stop being so scary and more just part of life. The reason for that is so long and --capitalismed-- complicated. I like that--if they're family, they're family. Although when the bodies get oozy it does start to get a little icky.
You got that right!
The man who did my old ladys funeral knew we were going to cremate after the ceremony. I wanted her to go out in style and saw a wooden casket for 3600. He told me "you know were gonna burn this. I have a cheaper wooden casket that still looks nice and we can put some flowers on top and we can save about 1600. I was damn grateful for him. I was a hot mess at that time and he could see i was barely keeping it together. He helped me pick colors, her urn and everything came out to under the amount of her life insurance. He even gave me a coupon to go to a nearby diner with my family after. That home is owned by Dignity which is definitely a corporation that owns hundreds of places. But that man was not of them lol.
And that by far is the most important thing. Often times we hear the stories of the big bad this or that, but rarely hear the good. I worked for SCI for 6 years and I've worked for small family funeral homes as well. They both have good and bad within. Thank you for sharing your experience.
So sorry for your loss But grateful you found a Real Person to help you through the worst of days!!
😂 UBER STORY AND 🫵👍 EXCELLENT
TELLING. SADLY " LAMB FUNERAL HOMES HAD HAD A GREEDY SON-INLAW DISGRACED A FINE FAMILY
VERY INTRESTING STORY 😮
I used to do customer service for a variety of huge megacorporations. It was always nice to find out you were working with an outfit that would let you treat their customers like people, instead of wallets with legs. Nice, but not typical.
I had the opposite when my Father died and I needed a viewing and then a cremation. They were pushing a fancy expensive coffin on me while I wanted to rent one. So I ended buying the cheap one and getting a lot of flowers. Still mad about it. I think renting coffins would be a ok thing for a viewing as what contamination can occur to a already dead person?
When my grandmother died, my mom had her sent to the local funeral home that everybody had used for generations. Mom had very little money, and was hoping for a relatively low cost funeral. The funeral director actually lied to her about legal requirements, like embalming being required by law. in tears, she called our minister, and with his help, had Grandma transferred to another funeral home, where Grandma was handled with dignity and a reasonable cost (and no embalming). Mom made sure to tell everyone she knew about her experience.
A lot of respect to your minister. It breaks my heart to hear these businesses taking advantage over people who are going through one of the hardest times of their lives. Thank you so much for sharing this. I hope you and your mother are doing well.
I'm glad to know there are clergymen who help folks.
My dad did not want to be embalmed but he wanted a viewing. Funeral director here in North Carolina said we are Not supposed to have a public viewing without embalming...so we had a private viewing "family" only. The people who wanted/needed to see him could come.
A lot of people don’t realize that embalming isn’t required by law it is just a tactic used to make an extra buck and of course the grieving family is going to get it because there not thinking straight.
You know, it's pretty ballsy to claim that embalming is a legal requirement. Are Jews and Muslims all being buried illegally then?
My daddy lives next door to a O'Keefe funeral home in Ocean Springs, MS. We used O'Bryant O'Keefe in Pascagoula, MS when my mother suddenly passed away 16 years ago. They were truly wonderful to us. Their services didn't stop after the cemetery either. They personally brought all plants from the funeral home to my daddy's house. They helped my daddy get into a bereavement group and they took turns actually driving my daddy back and forth to those meetings because he was just too distraught to do anything. They are wonderful and we developed a true friendship that went beyond business practices.
Now I'm crying. I am so sorry for your loss, but blown away at how wonderful and caring that family is towards their community. I am so happy your family was able to benefit from it, and hope you're all doing better now.
wow! that's actually amazing 💜💜💜
@@ladygrndr9424 Are we sure, I mean really sure, that it wasn't a helpful female who hoped to be the future wife?
That awesome they did that and so valuable. Truly ahead of it's time too, that shows a real awareness of the importance of mental health.
It's great to hear that good people in society occasionally win against exploitative corporate profiteers. But hearing from the people those heroes have helped makes such stories even better. Thanks for your comment.
As a Black person I have to say that I love how you're unafraid to talk about race and I appreciate that you approach it with cultural sensitivity. I love your channel.
I second that emotion! Honestly, I’ve learned more of my own culture history in the few years I’ve followed YOUR UA-cam channel than in ALL my years in education (and I’ve been teaching since the 90s!)👊🏾✊🏾😍
What did I learn? I learned this is another example of black Americans making WP wealthy …yet again and by choice this time. It’s an interesting story but not one I’m proud of.
@@PrimordialChaos07 Mr. Gary gets a percentage of that money....thats how he became so wealthy to begin with. Usually if you get a judgement over 1 million the lawyer gets 33% which is a super nice chunk of change. It was not a matter of Mr. Gary making some random white person rich....it was a matter of him adding a cool extra 50 million dollars to his own estate.
At the end of the of the day it is about respect - for those gone and those that remain. Peace. I have done in AUS a 'BARE" funeral for me when I go - cremated my Parents and the waste of money is extraordinary.
@@PrimordialChaos07 While this is true, I do feel like the nuance of the fact that the Loewen Group was actively preying on and denying black communities services and the O'Keeffe funeral homes were willing to serve black families is a factor that turns it into a bit of a minority "rights" landmark. There's obviously no way to tell what the demographics of who the O'Keeffe served or even that O'Keefe himself wasn't rascist (realistically, it's possible for the time frame he grew up in, though the fact that he sought out a black lawyer and *didn't* deny services to minority families in a notoriously segregated industry are both very possible points to him not being) just because he did allow and help black families with that dignity, but the fact that he could have, and no one would have batted an eye because it would have been not just culturally acceptable, but also actively culturally normal means that he likely was genuinely providing a service to black families. This point frames it as the very mixed jury fighting back against people still trying to oppress them in their most vulnerable moments, as *they* were ultimately the ones to knock Loewen flat on his ass and destroy a corporate conglomerate trying to fleece them at their most vulnerable. While it may not have been a perfect scenario for blacks winning, perfect should not be an impediment to progress, which I personally think lets this stick as a landmark case for minority rights, because it specifically let black voices be heard and have an impact on their very real futures. It's the kind of affirmatory case for the long passed civil rights movement that needs to happen for said movement to stick where black people can start using their voices without being impeded by the law, in this case to say "We want services that give us the option to choose them of our own free will that will treat us with human decency, regardless of whether or not an individual may choose to use." That doesn't sound like much, but it's just a reality that that wasn't a luxury afforded to many PoC barely even a generation ago in the time frame of when this happened. Not being perfect doesn't mean that it wasn't progress to be happy with.
During the height of Covid in New York state, with bodies piling up in refrigerated trucks, family members were frantically calling their EAP Services to access their free legal advice. WHY ??? Because the pre paid burial services their loved one paid for were not honoring the contact. Those prepaid burial services were owned by corporations. They wanted cash.
Wtf, did they not get fined or anything? How's that happening?
😮😮😮
If you have a prepaid arrangement with a local funeral home and they get bought out, your contract is not with the new owners. They do not have to honor it. Not sure how they can do this, but that’s why burial insurance may be a better option.
That’s so messed up 🤬
The families should get a full refund.
I definitely did not expect to hear the words “Mississippi” and “SCI” while watching this video…on my lunch break…at the SCI funeral home I work at…located in Mississippi…My jaw is dropped. Every single thing you said is the reality of the sugar coated semi-truthful practices are told to me by my funeral home. I have never put the pieces together until now. For those of us in starting positions in the Death Care Industry and consumers, thank you for all you do, Caitlyn.
Wish my job would enhance my revenue
My mother literally said "No, we're going with the cheapest option. In his life, he bought generic brand everything to save money despite having it, he'd roll over in his grave if we went with an expensive box to put in the ground"
I have a feeling that in the (hopefully) distant future when my dad passes away my family is going to do the same thing. He's always shopping around for the best quality at the lowest cost especially when it comes to big purchases. Wouldn't be right do not do the same for him 😅
My parents have explicitly told me 'no no, cheapest option'. And I've told my husband that too.
WHAT A POWER MOVE!!!!!!
Cheapest funeral for my dad was $5000. No embalming no makeup. They didn't even trim his nails his beard. They combed his hair clothed him ..closed his mouth. We had a private viewing...graveside service my cousin the reverend officiated. The plot was also $5000. But he pre-purchase this about 3 months prior to his death.
I am using bunker crude for my cremation. They won't let me use buffalo chips, so that is the best I can do.
As a funeral director and current employee with the O’Keefe’s, I have to say with pride and lots of love, we still serve all members of our community ❤️
Yaaaas! Inclusivity!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ironically O’Keefe probably bought all the funeral homes in his town and created another Monopoly.
@@HumbleWordsmith there are 3-4 (if not more) independently owned funeral homes on the MS gulf coast
Yes! Thank you and your community for taking care of people and their loved ones 💗
And charge a fortune.
Hold up, a father of thirteen, veteran and business owner?! His wife is the legend in that family holding that household down
He has a page on Wikipedia. I just looked him up. He really was a war hero, had all those children, took down the funeral industry, and did so much more before passing away in 2016 at the age of 93. A life well lived!
both of them work together its not one or the other. the wife handled a lot of the business and the father did a lot around the house. don't be so brainwashed that makes you think a healthy marriage is being a slave to a man JFC feminism has done a number on young women!
@@mromatic17I agree, it worked like that with my grandparents in the 30s through 60s. Granma took care of everything organisational and financial and 8 kids, granpa took care of the operation. It was not unheard of that it was only ma who could read, hence she read the Bible to the family, having the kids and pa devoutly listening in silence to God's Word. So called manly businesses continued by women after their husbands died of desease, in war or accidents are numerous.
@@HansOvervoorde who TF would stay with someone who did nothing all day? women are told that men don'tdo anything and they're his slave... yet none of them can actually find a man or they'd know how it actually is. feminists are female incells!
When my Mom passed she left us written instructions. When we saw the caskets all very expensive we were told to ask and now please show us the reasonable caskets. When he asked how would your Mother feel about that we just showed him her written instructions. Also when he asked about open casket she had written what she wanted (closed).
That's good she wrote something. No one in my family wants to talk about anything, leaving it to the kids which has been ok but...ugh. I'm making my mom write something when she gets older I ain't dealin with my crazy family
This was an incredibly thoughtful thing for your mother to do, like a last protective gesture to make sure you weren't taken advantage of, she sounds like a card
i think your mom was one sharp cookie. good on her for leaving you solid help for what was to come. one last "i'm the mom, i take care of things" for you to remember her by.
I have talked to my adult son about my wishes for after I die, and have written them out, since I subscribed to Caitlin’s channel.
I honestly think I would absolutely LOSE it on someone with the audacity to ask "What would your Mother think about you asking for the cheaper caskets?" as I was trying to plan her funeral arrangements.
I grew up with the O'Keefe family. My close friend was Adam O'Keefe (who died in 2010 in a car accident.) I remember hearing all kinds of stories from his family about the drama. I'm so glad you told their story. The whole family is tough but great people. They really do care about their community.
Hugs to you and to the O’Keefe family. May your friend Rest In Peace.
Loved Adam. Miss him terribly. His family is making a tribute video on him if you have pics or videos.
@@sokeefe001 Hugs to you. That is very nice that you are making a tribute. Your family member from this story is a badass and rocks 🙏
Hi Caitlin, when my dad passed in 2003, we went to the funeral home our family had been using for decades. When my siblings and I went to choose a casket, the funeral director took us to the selection room. He told us up front not to choose anything on the left side of the room because he knew my mom even with the life insurance, could never afford it. As we were choosing various services, he dissuaded us from a number of things because the cost was adding up. We didn't in our grief, even notice. We still had more than a reasonable send off for our dad at a price we could afford. Now that was one helluva moral and ethical gentleman. Keep passing on this great information. You and Kari are fantastic at bringing us this kind of informative material. Just goes to show there people out there who really and truly care. Thank you.
As a minister for 35 years, I've dealt with numerous funeral homes in four states. In every case but one, funeral directors are kind, compassionate, highly ethical people who are deeply entrenched in their communities and definitely want to be a comfort and not an added grief to families. If I had another life to live and couldn't (for some reason) preach the gospel, I would train to be a funeral director.
@@chrisstinnett8183 Hi Chris, Yes, funeral directors are as a rule, kind, moral, ethical, and compassionate. It is so easy to be predatory toward grieving people. That's why I admire them so much. By the way, the LORD called you to be a preacher of the GOOD (GREAT?) News. Please don't stop.
I'm an aspiring mortician, currently studying and I am employed at an independent funeral home. My calling is for green death care, but I understand that I need to go through it to get to it and learn "traditional methods." Though the funeral home I work at is "traditional," I've always appreciated that the funeral directors my funeral home have never pushed families towards funeral options and caskets or vaults they can't afford. I'll forever be thankful for that.
Coming from the OG area, holy crap does this ring true. The pressure they put on my family for the coffin upsell for my grandma was insane. I recall family gatherings where the uncles and aunties talked about “The Loewen’s”.
A funeral home co-op started up shortly after that and Loewen Funeral Home was forced to leave town because nobody went there anymore. I assumed they “went under”. They were money sucking assholes that deserved nothing but a failed business for taking advantage of grieving people.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
Good.
When my boyfriends father passed suddenly I took charge of calling funeral homes and the first one gave me a quote of $1800 for a direct cremation and if it hadn't been for this channel I wouldn't have known that price could easily been half that.
So happy for you! Death education is so important!
Revenue De-Enhancement
I had to pay $2,400+ for direct cremation for my dad. He wasn't even put into an urn. (He passed in Richmond, Virginia). My heart dropped as I was still a college student with two small children to raise.
I am EXTREMELY embarrassed to admit this, but I had to use my student loan money to pay for it.😞
😡 Most of us have long been angered by the actions of big oil, while being completely oblivious to the greed of "big funeral"! 😁
Seriously though, I haven't yet had to go "funeral shopping", but I don't look forward to it...
@@a.j.9797 Don't be embarrassed, the loan money is there to give you something to live off of while you go to school. That's a completely normal expense to have and a valid use of your loan.
Caitlyn's style of storytelling, combined with the hilarious editing, makes these videos so light and just much more pleasant than you'd expect when discussing the death care industry lol
Caitlyn, I need you to know that I put this video on a playlist to listen through while I got a root canal this morning, and-as I couldn't skip anything while lying there-I had the absolute pleasure of listening to you sing "revenue enhancement" for approximately three eternities as my tooth was being drilled into. Thank you for getting me through these tough times. 💜
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this event. It sounds like a great scene for a funny cartoon haha xD :) 😁
Your videos have helped me to come to terms with my mom's terminal illness. I am extremely close to her and facing the prospect of her passing has been the most difficult thing I've ever had to deal with in all my 28 years of life. You are an amazing person and the world is a better place with you in it.
Hi, David. My name is Christina and I'm commenting from my husband's account. I'm so sorry that your mother is ill. My family and I will pray for her tonight. God bless you both.
David, I had the same experience. everyone around me didn't, but I had the benefit of her making death normal. Be hugged, you aren't alone.
I second that!
I'm glad you've helped out your mom and the rest of your family by preparing for what's soon to come. Planning gives many of us solace and I'm certain that no matter the strength of her illness, your mom feels the same way. I wish you peace and good luck.
It helped me too! Hugs for you and everyone else going through this 💙
My husband and I used to watch your channel together often before he passed suddenly a little over a week and a half ago, and I have a new appreciation of your videos after having gone through the process myself.
I felt more prepared, and less bewildered, and I am grateful for small blessings.
You do good work on this channel, both to entertain and educate.
my condolece to you ma'am.
The part where Caitlin used a picture of herself with the cut out for her lips talking about home funerals and didn’t just use her regular face “chefs kiss” comedy gold
22:33
Astounding! This is from my hometown of Biloxi, MS, and I can vouch that the O'Keefe family are very good people to their community. They have been close to my family for many decades.
Honestly? I read the title and I was like "eh, will this really interest me?" And then I said out loud "Caitlin has never let me down" and I pressed play.
You never let me down Caitlyn ❤
A "smack right in the middle" Laura!
Big same, here! xD
Same!
Who else would sing "Revenue enhancement" over and over for five minutes for our enjoyment? The commitment to the bit is awesome!
Epic.
She committed to that. You have to admire it.
It was so annoying but I had to listen to the whole thing. Kind of like when a parent has to sit and listen when their 8 year old has a "consert" at school.
@@SpookiCooki It could have been *MUCH, MUCH* worse! My little brothers 'favourite' song when he was two was 'It's A Small World After All'. *BUT* he would only sing the first bit, "It's A Small Word" *ENDLESSLY*. Repeating it until he was ordered by my parents to stop singing & shut up!
It's going to be stuck in my head all weekend!
When my ex husband’s grandmother passed away, they used a chain funeral home in Calgary called MaCinnis and Holloway. His grandfather passed about two weeks later. This funeral home “did them a favour” by picking up the body from the morgue without proper paperwork and were about to apply all the services that they used for his grandmother. The family was furious and threatened a lawsuit if they didn’t return his body. They ended up saving thousands with an independent home…..
I never thought I’d encounter another Calgarian on this channel, I double checked your comment to make sure I didn’t read it wrong!
I’m sorry you had a shitty experience with them, they sound vile.
Hello fellow Calgarian! I didn't realize MaCinnis and Holloway was a chain funeral home. Learn something new every day, and now I know to stay clear of them, that's so gross.
@@panda.with.a.pencil there is a few in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge….and their name is connected with another funeral home. I can’t remember who right now….
When we explained to a local provider what we wanted when our time, he was so shocked he gave our wishes he let slip a industry name, you want a "Shake and Bake" .
Ask for a cardboard box for a urn. Good luck, best wishes.
My husband spent 35 years as a well known, very well respected Funeral Director. He even owned his own removal & embalming service for quite some time servicing 18 funeral homes in a huge Fl County. He managed a couple different funeral homes as well during his years.
He was managing a funeral home at one time when out of the blue a man came in (later learned he was from SCI).
Without prior notice, without time or ANYTHING, he said to my husband, "gather your things and leave."
Can you imagine the shock, the embarrassment, the hell he went through?
Crude, rude, nasty operational strategies. I heard so much from so many after that about how SCI cruely treated people in the funeral industry.
Thank you for sharing this informative and very interesting story.
My husband has sadly since passed on. And was not yet my husband during those times but I knew him and of his incredible integrity.
I worked at an SCI cemetery for 6 month. All of what she is saying is true. It was a MASSIVE reason for why I left. I joined the company to help grieving families. I did not feel I could do that there.
My dad was a freelance embalmer, known for his specialty for makeup with accident victims. In his later years he worked exclusively for a family owned funeral home in St. Louis, MO until he retired. I had them handle his burial when he passed and my mother 20 years later. I’m glad no corporations ever infiltrated the area.
This is what I do, now. I specialize in the exact same thing. God bless your dad, may he rest in peace.
I love courtroom stories like this. The drama. The pettiness. The dressing down of people and corporations that got way too big for their britches. It's not a common story in our justice system and it always feels so, so good to sit back and eat popcorn when it does happen.
Caitlin……. It’s Jeff O’Keefe……. Thank you for doing your homework on this case. There are a few inaccuracies but overall you have captured the essence of the matter.
Hey uncle ! Yes Caitlin reach out to my uncle he’s the new owner of the funeral home
Looking up videos of the glory days. Haha.
If you want to get in contact with her, the best way is through her website! I believe you’ll interact with her publicist first, but considering she made a video about you, I’m sure her publicist would quickly pass you along to her!
Yeah. It lists your username with your comment, but hey I'm Josh Gibson.
Hi, Jeff!
When my Dad passed away in 2010, our nosey Aunt came along to the meeting with the cemetery/funeral home. The guy tried to charge my mom $1800. My Aunt, reading thru all the documents, suddenly blurted out "This is already for .... back in 1985...... The guy tried to plead innocence.... And then tried to add a charge for Taps. I am a life long trumpet player and have played taps thousands of times. I asked if he was going to pay ME to play taps for my dad.... I got the deer-in-the-headlights look...
Wait, loewen or okeffe?
So you were glad for the Aunt? LOL
Everyone going to make plans for a loved one's funeral should take a nosey aunt along too. The more hard-boiled the better. Or arrange it all via a pre-need form, where you can check the cheapest category in the comfort of your own home. My church has a form for members to put their choices in writing. If you don't have a nosey aunt, look for alternatives.
Aunts Anonymoys or #0800-RENT-AN-AUNT
@@nollnollett If you don't have a nosey aunt, ask your neighbors. One is bound to have one they can lend you.
Wait, this is our local funeral home, who so respectfully cared for my grandmother at her passing, and his children are family friends, still running that funeral home! It was a treat for this MS deathling to see individuals who have been fixtures of our community be given a spotlight on your platform! Sending so much love to you for all of your hard work and always informative content! 💕
I was looking for this comment, knew I couldn’t be the only one who knew this family and there had to be a fellow coastie somewhere in here. Greetings from OS!
Greetings from Diamondhead (currently - formerly of Biloxi)!
Hello, fellow MS Deathlings!!! 👋🏾
Mr O'Keefe's funeral home took care of my great grandmother's funeral in 1991. As well as many other of members of my family in Biloxi.
My husband might be pastoring at Four Mile Creek Baptist so I was so excited to see this video! 😃
(And comment!)
When my mother passed away, I originally planned on using the same funeral home we always used. It had been sold and became part of a franchise. I decided to shop around, not because of the price (which was high) but because my mother lived in the same city her entire life and I wanted something "local". I found an independent, generationally-owned home. All I can say is that they did wonderful work. My mother would've been pleased and THAT is what mattered to me.
P.S. The cost(which I prepaid) was about $3K less than the "franchise funeral home". The only "surprise" costs were the increase in funds I volunteered to add to the "flower blanket" laid upon the coffin. It was beautiful and my mother would've been pleased. The other "surprise" was the new outfit purchased for my mother. My mother had been bed-ridden for 19 months before she passed away and the clothes at home no longer fit. Again, my mother would've been pleased.
Please be well and stay safe everyone.✌️
❤️❤️❤️
I am sorry. 💔 Please take care of yourself. 🌍💚🌼
You sound like a good son, I’m sure your mother would be grateful
That kind of sentimental “my mother would have been pleased” is what this industry’s monetizers/profiteers count on. How you treated your mother in life is what matters.
@@dolinaj1 I guess there always has to be one.
Watching this channel several years ago is why I insisted to my parents that they need to avoid the big chain funeral homes. When my grandmother passed earlier this year, we used the only independent one in our town (the rest all owned by Arbor Memorial) and it made a horrible time a little less horrible because they were very respectful and helpful. So thanks for continuing to educate people about the industry.
I wish my Mom and I had done our homework when choosing the funeral home taking care of my step-father. He was a REAL SOB, and the weird sardonic half smile they put on his face was spot on!
Here in Switzerland, burial services are provided by the municipality, and if needed, funereal services by the deceased’s church, to which they would have paid a “church tax” while alive. When a friend’s mother died, she asked me to tag along for moral support, so I got to see the entire process: the town hall handled it all, with it taking about an hour to discuss the details. They did it with respect and efficiency, and the cost (excluding the cemetery plot) was minimal. In the city where I live, nearly all of it is free: caskets are made by the city in a workshop for people with disabilities, as vocational training; transport and preparation of the body; burial; or cremation - all free. (Only the fee for dressing the body is not free, oddly.)
As an American living abroad, it’s interesting to see how differently different countries handle things; Americans in USA are often anti-“big government”, yet end up in the hands of “big corporation”, which is often much worse. (In Europe, government is often in charge of things they consider basic citizen services, and then offers those services at or nearly at-cost, since it’s not the government’s role to make a profit.)
I love that so much, so cool!
If any funeral industry scandal needs to be made into a film, it should be the whole Lamb Funeral Home thing you talked about in 'TRULY the Worst Funeral Director of All Time'. Between the 80's vibe, the mass cremations, organ stealing, and poisoning a rival funeral director. THAT would make for a hell of a movie!
"This is Netflix, you're green-lit!"
I'd like to nominate the Tri-State Crematorium in Georgia. Granted, they weren't selling organs... just dumping all the bodies in the woods to save money on the electric bill. Years and years of just tossing bodies in piles. 🤢
I agree!
@@nobody8328 yes I agree with both ....but I'm from GA this would be awesome
Hot damn, I agree. Or just a good ol' docuseries on alllllll of these funeral industry scandals.
Just to share: At the end, during the credits, my ferret heard your "Revenue Enhancements" lyrics and ran all over the living room trying to find out where that sound was coming from! I couldn't tell if he liked it, or he wanted to kill it! I wish you could have seen it! Love your work! 🤣😂😅
Omg what a great story to share! Made me giggle too. 😂🤣
I think she should add to her bio that she has trans species fans because either way seems like the ferret is a fan!
Can someone give this woman a Grammy for “Revenue Enhancement?” That is my new jam! 💃🕺
Such a great song.
So inspirational
Why did I listen to the whole thing!? 😂
🎶🎧👩🎤🎵
Why in my head do I see a bunch of old white dudes in suits twerking to this?
I learned a lot about the funeral industry after both of my parents died. They both died without any death benefits or life insurance. I remember frantically searching for the $25,000 life insurance my dad always told me had, but had cashed it in years before and unbeknownst to me. His cancer was a secret he kept from me, his only child. I learned he accepted hospice care on a Wednesday night and he was dead on Friday morning, in my den.
I want nothing at all to do with the funeral industry. It’s predatory. I never really believed in visiting a loved ones grave. They aren’t there! Our loved ones are in our hearts and memories, and when we are fortunate enough to be visited them in our dreams.
Yes, predatory. The expenses have become unreal. We know that those that died during covid in NY who had no family to claim them, were buried a more natural way. As it was before President Lincoln preservation for travel knocked on the money train of greed.
Money has taken over the minds of the people, whether you have much, or none at all, the suffering remains alive in one form or another.
I was working for Loewen during this time. Note: Willy Gary had a Gulfstream, not a B737. Loewen was buying all these firms on credit...not cash. After the judgement, I can remember the president of the funeral division telling me/us in a meeting that after payroll was met, the company had 600K in the bank.
As an aircraft mechanic who has worked on both aircraft types I was going to point that out. Nevertheless a very well done episode.
Think offshore
Yup, that photo ain't no 737.
It's so weird that companies are allowed to overextend themselves like that. It's basically a corporate Ponzi scheme, thinking if they get big enough, make enough acquisitions, that they'll make it all right in the end. In the meantime, the CEOs and board are paying themselves the big bucks and leaving the company itself struggling.
It was reported several times in the media that Gary also had a custom 737. But yes Wings of Justice is a Gulfstream!
I think it’s only just. Nobody can think straight when you have a loss, especially when it’s unexpected. They take advantage of families when they are grieving. One thing I found is that when you realize you can’t do nice things for your loved one any more, you end up spending money on their funeral. Thanks for keeping it light! I love your sense of humor!
I love all the quick, humorous insertions, but the “Revenue Enhancement” track had me in tears 🤣🤣. This may be my favorite video that you have released, and I love many of your videos. Also, it reminded me of the Kardashian funeral episode. Hollywood always stealing ideas. I’m informed and thoroughly entertained.
It reminded me of "it was rats":)
Yes! she is a HOOT! very Clever.
That final song started playing while I was asleep. I almost destroyed my phone trying to make it stop.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
My mom, being Scotch-Irish could squeeze a nickel and the buffalo would give milk... so she made her own funeral plans with Neptune Society and was cremated, because she said she doesn't need that old body, where she's going she'll get a new one! She didn't spend much and now she's waiting on dad's mantle for him to join her and they'll both go to the National Cemetery where they saved them a free spot for his war service. By the way... all those credits at the end... looks like a list of all your satisfied customers! My wife is a funeral director, but she actually works at the tissue bank processing donors now, since the funeral industry went all crazy.
Actually it's "Scottish"..."Scotch" is an alcoholic beverage!! I love the idea of becoming a part of a reef...but I'd rather my ashes not be in an urn...just toss me into the air and wherever my ashes land...that'll be my last, forever home....
@@superpredator4096Scotch-Irish is what they call descendants of Northern Irish Protestants in America (who in turn originated in Northumbria and are just as likely to be of English heritage as lowland Scottish 🤣).
We don’t use the term “Scotch-Irish” in Ireland or the UK to describe that ethnicity so we’re not very familiar with it but it is correct.
@@superpredator4096 as an explainer, Scotch is a Scots word, Scots being a Germanic language related to English spoken by people in the lowlands of Scotland. Not to be confused with Scottish/Scottish-Gaelic which is a Gaelic language native to the Scottish highlands, which originated in Ireland and is similar to the Irish language.
I'm scotch Irish and I'll drink to it
@@superpredator4096 not you trying to actually someone and was wrong. 😂
As a Canadian - accustomed to hearing about American companies taking over (and eventually burying) Canadian companies - I found it refreshing to hear the tables turn, and equally happy to see a Canadian get a kick to the keester as I would if an American monopolizer went down.
Hey, Mustbe, I know of at least 10 huge takeovers of companies here in the USA that Canadians came here and took over. It happens on both sides and has been growing since the early 2000's, basically it's now common practice. I see it as a melding of both our countries with businesses. I support having Canadian companies here. Also, I love Canada and Canadian people :-)
The canadians have bought most of the paper and lumber mills and are half the reason why lumber prices are so dang high.
Personally I find the scariest thing about Canada is how your government has become so huge, that people always vote in favor of the government to protect their pensions. It's insane how many people work for the government. And then when Canada you guys have the nationalization of stuff like maple syrup, what, is that true? And all sorts of other stuff, and it really has hurt Canada
@@theq4602 Good ol American protectionism and tariffs have a great deal more to do with it. Plus since y'all keep buying you're driving up our prices locally.
@@claudeyaz The percentage of public sector to private sector employees is only marginally more in Canada than the US so I'm not sure where you're getting this idea.
Also, maple syrup isn't nationalized? The government buys large amounts of it in order to keep prices high and reduce market flooding but that's really no different than what the Americans do with their Strategic Petroleum Reserve or as another example the subsidization of crops like corn to keep the prices artificially low. It's not like the Canadian government owns the thousand of tiny maple syrup operations.
Caitlin, please congratulate your editor. The 80's edits and effects are spot on! (and as always of course your videos are excellent).
I'm 15 seconds in and already excited that it seems like Caitlin is about to get the "Big Funeral" set all riled up again. I mean I don't want them aiming at her obviously, but you gotta love someone who makes the old guard establishment in their industry as threatened as they get about her. You know someone is speaking truth to power when power starts quaking in their boots.
Only if the old guard in an industry is abusive.
There’s no inherent goodness in destroying organisations
@@M_SC the term "old guard" would imply they are.
@@M_SC way to stand up for the man, hope they see this
I spent 6 years in the funeral industry , Learning the craft. Caitlyn's channel & her work she does is phenomenal. IV always considered Caitlyn to be 'Death Smart' , If that makes sense, Also her approach to death & how to deal with it is something that I havent seen before her & I would try to be a funeral director like how Caitlyn would be. I went above & beyond for the families I worked with & I do owe some of my success in the funeral industry to Caitlyn & the work she does. I would often refer to her videos & her first book, Smoke Gets in your eyes, to my comrades in the profession. I hope she knows that she's got quite the following.
omg! new ask a mortician!! listening while i prepare for my great grandma’s funeral today. i’m SO glad i found this channel. a death-positive approach has done so much for me getting through this. i was able to take an active role in planning, and i am not afraid. Caitlyn, thank you! truly.
I am so sorry for your loss and hope that your great-grandma's funeral is a beautiful service. As difficult as they can be it is also helpful to the grieving process, as you know from Caitlin's videos.
it was a beautiful service! she would’ve been pleased. we had her wake/birthday party afterwards, as she would’ve been 98 the week she passed. we had her favorite foods (hot dogs and cookies) and shared memories. sang happy birthday when we put her in the ground. her transition from life to death was very peaceful. 💕
When my wife's sister was killed in a motorcycle accident we went with her parents to the funeral home closest to where she had lived and where deceased family members had had their funerals. I am going to refrain from naming the funeral home chain because I don't like being sued so let's just say that this funeral home group is the SCI of Columbus, OH. She had died on a Tuesday but because it was a motor vehicle death the county morgue held the body for a full autopsy. We were finally told that we could have the funeral home pick her up late in the afternoon of the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. So her parents along with my wife and I went to the local conglomerates chapel. The chapel's director met us dressed for a day on the water and said " The funeral is going to cost you $6800 plus tax." No "sorry for your loss" or any other platitudes. I ask if he would leave us alone for a few minutes to talk it over. My in-laws were about ready to blow their head gaskets, and these were 2 of the calmest people I ever knew. I had noticed a phone on the other side of the room and promptly called my mother to get the number for John Quint and Sons funeral home where the past 4 generations of my family had had their funerals. I called Quints and they asked us to come over around 4:30 that same day. We were met there by Anna, John Sr's great-granddaughter, she was dressed in business attire and was very gracious and accommodating. She treated us like members of her own family. She helped us through every step of the process with sympathy and grace.
She also won all the business going forward from a family who had never heard of John Quint's before I married into the family.
Oh my goodness... I am so glad she treated you better! I hope that previous business gets new management or goes out of business!
States cremate bodies for free. I have no intention of spending a fortune to have a body I'm done with treated better than it was when I was living in it.
@@do9138 Ohio only does free cremations for indigents after their body has remained unclaimed for 6 months or more depending on how long each county coroner wants to hold them.
FWIW My wife and I plan on being cremated. Many funeral homes have some sort of "rental casket" that can be used for viewings before the body is taken to the crematorium.
Dunno how you expect to get repeat business with an attitude like that.
Excellent....just excellent.
This woman is priceless! Her new single, "Revenue Enhancement" can be heard over the ending credits. LOVE ya Caitlyn!
The word on the street is that Jamie Foxx will be singing his own version at the end of his movie...
Currently listening and it is way funnier than I was expecting 😂
Better than anything either Ke$ha or Rhianna ever put out. BOOM!
Sounds like Kate Bush 😅
Now if she could stop making literally everything about race.
Caitlin - long time watcher, first time commenter:
Your videos are always
1.) so entertaining,
2.) so informative,
3.) so hilarious and
4.) displays your talent, creativity and joy for your passion. I so respect what you do and that you take so much pride in bringing actual thought provoking and meaningful content to this hodge podge of mediocrity.
Keep up the wonderful work and I'll keep tuning in. Thanks!!!!
Hi, Caitlin. This was yet another wonderful video. I just wanted to let you know that, when my dad passed away recently, I had the wherewithal to help him pass at home and care for his body before cremation because of you. I will be grateful for the courage your videos gave me, for the rest of my life. Thank you.
Holy snot. So many likes. Thank you, kind deathlings. Losing a parent is simultaneously the end of the world and also, somehow, not as bad as you may fear. If you haven’t already done it, you will probably do it. And it will be both horrible and ok. You’ve got this. There are people ready to help and see you through it.
My heart goes out to you. I've buried my only child and it was a life changing experience. But I dread the day I lose either of my parents. Much of it has to do with losing my only child. Today, I don't deal with death that well. Not at all. I've still got unresolved issues from that. Issues that arise every time somebody dies.
@@J.C... I am so sorry for your loss. Have you ever spoken with a grief counselor about it? If you haven’t, they can help you get to a place where it dominates your thinking a little less and doesn’t hinder you as much in dealing with other traumatic events. If you haven’t done that, you should. You deserve to feel better ❤️
Same here......my mom passed at home a few months ago and I called the local family to gather to be wIth her body for a few hours and then we called the crematory to come many hours later. It was beautiful.
“These were funeral homes, not Beanie Babies” was not something I ever expected to hear 🤣
Excellent video as always, Caitlin. You’re a gem.
That’s how corporate funeral homes sell funerals though. Like beanie babies. “Don’t you want mom to have this beanie baby? Doesn’t she deserve it after a life of 90 years” so you buy it out of guilt lol
Funeral home aren't Beanie Babies. Hah the more you know. I always seem to learn some thing new when I watch Caitlin's videos. ❤
26:30
I totally snorted over that line... 😂
A classic Caitlin line if I ever heard one. 😆
I’ve been watching ask a mortician since i was in the 5th grade (I’m now in 10th grade) and i have watched a video every day while getting ready early in the morning (i used to do crossing guard in 5th and 0 hour orchestra in 6-8th) and honestly it has made me become more aware of my death biases, so this channel will always have a special place in my heart. The light hearted content and jokes mixed with deep conversations about death drew me in, this channel in some ways has truly changed my life so seeing it hit one million almost two I can’t help but feel proud.
Good job Caitlin, you truly deserve this 🫶🏼
*"REVENUE ENHANCEMENT"*
The *Revenue Enhancement* song was beyond brilliant and is going to be in my head for the rest of my life.
I love Caitlyn's channel so much! She's our very important death friend!
I was hired to sell pre need for SCI.
My second day I watched a pre need sales person trying to convince a woman to purchase spaces in our shiny new mausoleum and dig up her husband from a veterans cemetery to put him beside her. When she resisted he said “oh ok so if it’s not important to be together it’s perfectly ok to buy only a space for yourself” and the look on her face of guilt and sadness made me lose it. I stood up and said “you’re a pos telling this woman she should exhume her husband so you can get a commission on two spaces- ma’am I suggest you leave and go elsewhere here is my number I’d be happy to refer you to a facility that puts people ahead of commissions”. She then felt brave and said a few choice words to the man. I walked her out and apologized that he put her through that. She said had I said nothing she would have felt obligated to do it she didn’t understand her options etc.
I then walked in, gathered my things and told everyone in the sales office they were pigs and walked out. In just two days I’d seen so many salespeople do and say terrible things to make sales….
My grandfather was buried in a veterans cemetery, my gram although not a veteran was buried with him. Why did this woman not know that?
>> Tom's Ukrainian/American wife Pam
Why wasn’t she buried next to her husband?
I got in a bit of trouble for something similar before as well.
I told a pre-need appointment that assuming she met the criteria (not remarried, not convicted of a capital offense, etc.), she could also be interred with her husband. She signed with us for a service, but I was pseudo-reprimanded for not giving the cemetery sales team a crack at selling her a plot at the cemetery we were associated with.
Yeah, no. I'm giving options. If they want a zillion dollar funeral with all the bells and whistles, great. If they want a direct cremation, that's ok too.
SCIs trash
Did I really just sit here and listen to the entire and incredibly long rendition of “Revenue Enhancement”? Yes. Yes I did. Only for Caitlin would I do so.
Another fantastic video. I truly had no idea these shenanigans went on in the funeral industry but then again, I’m not really surprised. Something else to be aware of as my mother she’s and I age as well. Damn.
Here in Louisiana we had a group of Catholic Monks from Covington, La. take the big funeral giants here to court and win, they make high quality hand made low cost affordable caskets , the big wig funeral homes here wouldn’t let any coffins from makers other than their high dollar unaffordable coffins be used in their funeral homes , needless to say the court sided with the monks and the people who wanted to purchase those affordable handmade coffins and use them for their families , the courts said their is no monopoly on coffins the funeral homes couldn’t force you to use their outrageously expensive coffins if their were affordable outside dealers of coffins, Thank God those greedy bastards got hit in the pocketbook, my aunt a devout Catholic had a monk handmade coffin that she was buried in and it was beautiful, like a classic handmade antique piece of furniture, not fancy but good enough to put a loved one to rot in the earth in with dignity
The monks make beautiful caskets.
This was a really important case, and a right people have in most parts of the US that they are rarely told about. Never buy your casket or monument from a big corporate funeral home or cemetery, at least without doing your research. They mark them up outrageously.
Interesting! I've researchers and found casket makers in Iowa. (I live in Illinois.)
They are also monks. It's
Trappist Caskets
16632 Monastery Road
Peosta, IA 52068
I'd love to go there for a tour one of these days!
I'm glad your aunt got such a nice, handmade casket!
Yep, all true. The Benedictine monks had to fight in court for years to overcome the Louisiana funeral directors monopoly on selling “funeral merchandise”. We bought my father-in-law‘s casket from them, beautiful, plain, and elegant. Far cheaper than what we would’ve been charged otherwise. I felt like Walter Sobchak with his Folgers can.
Great story. I love it when the people win.
Rewatched and the "Revenue Enhancement" song still cracks me up. Hauntingly biting on the 80's.
Also, realized the beginning is a take on Arrested Development.
Moral of the story: Rewatching your videos is worth it!!
(But you knew that, I hope?💙)
As you said Loewen Funeral Home was started in Steinbach. We lived next door to it. Ray as a teen ager was always into something.
His parents weren't like that at all. Greed steps in and he was overwhelmed by all the money and glitter. So now it over.
It’s truly despicable that lots of funeral homes, ESPECIALLY corporate ones, take advantage of the bereaved just to make an extra buck. Great video as always, Death Mother!
Death Mother is a new one. I think I like the title...
It's disgusting that this man thought it was ok to take advantage of people when they are so vulnerable from losing a loved one! I love your videos!!!
So glad The funeral industry these days…..doesn’t take advantage of those who are grieving!
Just buried my mom a few months ago after two years battling cancer, the night before she died she pulled me close to her hospital bed and told me she wanted a “simple quiet funeral and not very expensive”…. We had just buried my grandmother two years before and she saw how big of a nightmare that was, and instead wanted a little bit of money she had left to go to a few different charities.
Two hours after she died my stepdad was at the funeral home…. And a few hours later he’d racked up a $27,000 bill, and it wasn’t anything extravagant or fancy.
So glad the industry isn’t predatory and is totally wholesome these days.
😑😬😥
@@hullinstruments it's definitely not, that's not what I was implying. It's a shame that they take advantage of people while they are grieving. A close friend of mine died unexpectedly and when we tried to have him buried it was like 15,000 and his mom couldn't afford that much out of no where he had to be cremated and that was 5,000 and we had a small family viewing where they left blood on his hands and he was purple it was horrible. So I understand
@@hullinstruments it’s terrible. And the law is set up to prevent alternatives. My dad passed unexpectedly with no insurance in 2018. I literally had nightmares about his body laying abandoned in the hospital morgue until I could come up with $3k to give the crematorium.
My mom basically decided to die & passed in 2019 & she literally wanted me to just dig a hole next to her favorite tree & drop her in with a few sentimental items. I’d rather stay out of jail. So I’d prearranged & paid a plan for cremation.
We’re just not a family that could afford a burial even if it were important to the deceased. Fortunately, my mom liked cremation & my dad didn’t care as long as it didn’t stress the family.
I actually have a meeting with the crematorium on Monday to prepay for myself & my partner. I don’t want anyone to have to go through that stress when I pass.
Way too many funeral homes are rip off artist. I would love to see funeral homes go back to locally owned mom and pop businesses.
@@harpintn I agree 100%
My parents pre paid a mortuary in Exeter CA. They are now both past on, my sister and I were grateful they took care of everything. Both wanted cremation, nothing else. We were in shock with grief. Thank God my Dad and Mom made their decisions and paid in advance. I learned a great lesson. My husband and I will do the same.
The Family Mortuary in Exeter we amazing, and supportive during those days.
I like your delivery and information. Thank you for teaching us about the Mortuary
Business.
Peace🌎💖💫
The musical performance playing over the patron end-credits was the best thing I’ve ever heard!!😉
Caitlyn - if you are not offered a role in the movie as the plucky and loyal embalming tech/make up girl, I will refuse to see the movie!!💖🌈💐
Not to mention the hit single theme song!
This song - and especially its happy-go-lucky vibe pulled off key - about a topic so coldly capitalistic as "revenue enhancement", is surely creepier than death or even corpse decomposition could ever be.
ROFL, she already is: She's Abby Sciuto from NCIS 😹
I worked for an independent, family-owned monument shop for years, and I learned a couple things there I wish every family knew that can save thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars:
1. At least in most states, funeral homes cannot legally stop you purchasing a casket somewhere else (including online), and cemeteries cannot stop you buying your monument somewhere else (including online. Up to a certain size, markers can be shipped to you by regular old fedex, anything bigger usually requires around $100-$200 freight).
2. Purchasing somewhere else can save you as much as 90% on monuments. We often saw big cemeteries with their own shops charging 16x wholesale where our prices were usually around 2x-3x (including engraving and custom design). All that granite's coming out of the same quarries and usually the blank monuments are milled by the same huge shops in China and India, not on site, with just the final engraving done to order (otherwise you'd be waiting 6 months just to get the raw stone to you). So, the actual stones are exactly the same whether you buy online or through an overpriced corporate monument shop associated with the cemetery/funeral home.
3. Funeral homes and cemeteries are not going to tell you any of this and may lie to you if you ask. Some SCI cemeteries in particular will also lose your paperwork, hang up on the monument shop while they are trying to schedule delivery and refuse to answer calls, lock delivery trucks out at the gate, and basically do anything they can to obstruct smooth installation or delivery of an outside-purchased monument. It's not a time or place when you're likely to stand up for your rights as a consumer and they know it - and they will actively try to convince monument shops it's too much hassle to "sell in" to their parks, to maintain their monopoly.
Dealing with the cemeteries and funeral homes was my job, and while most of the small family/mortician-owned funeral homes and community or church/synagogue-owned cemeteries and/or columbaria were delightful to work with, some of those SCI cemeteries were absolute nightmares (coughrosehillscough).
Thank you so much for that information! "Faces of the Forgotten" channel (Ron) would certainly benefit from this info, as he buys monuments and grave-markers for those who have none, using his own money and the donations we send him .. an admirable thing to do, by a lovely and incredibly intelligent man who takes us on walks around many cemeteries around the US and tells us stories about those interred there. I know that he was recently forced to use the monument-markers insisted upon by the cemetery itself .. I wonder if he knew that's not allowed? So thank you - I'll pass that information along to him, or perhaps you might like to take a look at his channel and reach out to him yourself, on account that he often does such nice things for those who do not have monuments or even grave-markers? Thank you so much.
Caitlin I have been a cosmetologist for several homes and death has become very interesting when you study people. You are an awesome teacher. Now I also work hospice for 20 years. Life is part of death and it is all in what you know! Thanks
When my father passed in 2002, the biggest funeral home in our town had been bought by the Loewen group, as was the "other" cemetery. We chose a truly locally owned home to take care of Dad, but the other guys tried way too hard to sell us a plot in the cemetery across the river rather than in the one we wanted. This guy was such a jerk about the whole thing, and I was so upset, I wrote a play about it.
You are a brave person!!!
When my father passed away my mom elected to pre-buy her funeral services at the funeral home and a plot at the cemetery. When she passed 30yrs later we had to come up with 10k due to "cost of living" increases. So the pre-buy or whatever it is called, is a total scam if you ask me
Same here. My mother pre-paid for her and my dad and when she died the funeral home kept telling me "oh that wasn't covered in the pre paid services." Seriously, the casket wasn't covered.
@@firstname7470 I’m not American so my understanding is limited but isn’t casted is necessary for the ‘traditional burial’? How can the casket can’t be included? Wouldn’t that be fraud?
I think, if you get things written out clearly in advance for pre-need (this is, in full, what will be paid for, what's covered, there are no hidden additional services, the vendor agrees not to apply a cost-of-living increase), you can then hire a lawyer to make the mortician honour the contract. You have to be really savvy to know in advance to draw up that sort of contract though. And maybe some funeral services wouldn't agree to sign such a contract.
@@firstname7470
Sounds like 🐃 💩 to me I hope you contacted your State's Licensing
My grandparents both had prepaid funeral accounts and we owed nothing. 🤷♀️
As a Canadian I would like to express how gratifying it is for small America to finally tackle the tyranny of big Maple. Well done. I'm here for it.
Big Maple🤣🤣🤣
As a Canadian I’d like to add that I’m so ‘over’ Am’s saying ‘eh’ when mocking us. Find a new joke y’all. 🙄 just a thought
@@dixieworker eh, get over it.
As an enlightened Alaskan who has been many times through Canada, I'll correct you now. It's Grassroots versus Corporations. Giving 'small America' credit romanticizes the idea that 'merka is special. It isn't. People who stand up to big corporations of any kind are heroes. Also, 'American' properly refers to anyone living anywhere in North or South America, and is not specific to persons living in the US.
@@DrTHC As an "enlightened" (🤣tf) Alabamian I'd like to tell you you're wrong. Everyone is special. That's all. Btw it's weird to call yourself "enlightened" and be serious about it.
I knew I had seen this video before but I just realized after learning recently that Willie Gary the lawyer is actually the grandfather of one of my close friends from college.
After planning my Grandma’s funeral, and shopping for caskets, my father told me about the tacky caskets they were showing first. He said I should remember, when the time came, that my Daddy was a Tacky Person. I promised him I would grab the cheapest one on the floor. Since then both of my parents have decided to donate their bodies to science, so I don’t have to even visit the casket showroom.
Your parents are awesome. I’d love to go to the Body Farm myself.
Yep, donating mine to science. No coffins….. just a free cremation when they are done with you!
Be careful donating body to science. You never know where it will end up. I just watched a video of a vet who donated his body to science and his body ended up in a hotel in Portland, Oregon the subject of an autopsy in front of people who were non in the medical field paying to watch them cutting into him.
@@mossyoakmom8880 I'd be fine with that as long as I wasn't embalmed. Heck, I'd prefer being grilled at a barbecue for people willing to pay to try human flesh and then have my skeleton wired together and displayed in someone's home rather than be embalmed. There's nothing I hate more when it comes to the treatment of my corpse than the thought of being embalmed. Ideally I'd like to be buried with a tree or some other plants over me, no casket. But I'm not sure how much that would cost or if I'll have any relatives who'd be willing to pay for it. I'd settle for being cremated and my ashes buried with a young tree, but I'm fat enough that cremating me might be problematic for the crematorium involved.
😊
"If you're getting on in age and your loser son wants to be a librarian or a fireman instead of a mortician"
Is my sentence of the day
I'm LOVING the arrested development style intro.
On a more morbid note ( ok maybe not so much for this channel) when I die I just want to be dumped naked into a hole and covered with dirt. No funeral service..maybe just a family and friends get-together where they can all laugh about the stupid things I did or said, have some food and sing "ding-dong the witch is dead" as per my (the dead ones request)
I think they might require a shroud, but obviously you should be able to specify that a biodegradable shroud is all you want to be buried in.
Same! Lol
My family and I are in Scotland so we don’t do embalming or any of that nonsense, and we’re very into burials being as natural as possible so I agree with you on all the points… except being nude 😂🤦🏼♀️
If my dad/mum/sibling was like “please bury me naked” I’d be very resistant to that 😂😂😂 as much as we all love each other, I’m not dealing with my dad’s naked body 😂😂😂
@@ragnkja a shroud would be ok, if it could have something funny on it.
@@TallulahFoxxx if they have a problem with the naked part they can put me in a burlap sack to cover my naughty bits, I'm dead I don't care.
As someone from Manitoba, Canada, I jumped out of my chair in shock as I forgot other people live here 😭
It's so great and fascinating to learn about American funerals. We just wash the body, do the hair, wrap the body in some cloth, pray and bury the body. It seems American funerals require much more planning by the family.
What you describe is, by far, the most sensible way to handle a funeral; at least, in my opinion. I realize there are situations where such might not be possible, but it's far more sane than the expense, the chemicals used, the land use, and sadly; the exploitation that can occur in our American system. I believe this attitude is changing - largely due to people like Caitlyn - and, I hope more people become comfortable with the idea of natural, home and family based funerals and burials.
Back in the day (like the 1800s) it was simpler, with folks passing at home and caring for the dead was taken care of by the family.
Then the Civil War happened...
I'm pretty sure Caitlin made video about that too lol
I think this is what Caitlins funeral company does because it's better for everyone involved and the environment ♡
As an American, what you've described is what I would want and I don't know how to make that happen
@@Gilliebeany Seems like we have a new viewer! Welcome! This channel talks a lot about how to do that as does Caitlyns website. The easiest way to find info is by searching a keyword like “natural burial”.
I'm fortunate that my parents took care of all their arrangements while they were still here. They're both gone now and while their passings were hard to deal with, my family and I didn't have to make many decisions when it came to their services.
I appreciate Caitlin sharing this information so I can make more knowledgeable decisions for my own services.
Death plans are the way to go (literally)
My parents are still alive but have done the same. I think it's because they saw how much easier it was when my mom's parents passed and there was less decision making to do. I am grateful they thought about it.
I've told all my family to cremate me and go get a jar from Michaels....preferably with the 40% off coupon
@@veronicavatter6436 great idea! I love it.
The local funeral home where I live is currently on it's 4th generation. They do everything possible to help someone. They've told me lots of stories about how the corporate groups. Thanks for getting this information out there.
You're such a riot, CAITLIN! ASK A MORTICIAN is now my new FAVORITE UA-cam channel. I am binge-watching your videos for two days now, hahaha. "Revenue enhancement" will be haunting me in my dreams from now on.
I Love your video. Being a Funeral director and Embalmer, I tell EVERYONE, NEVER use a corporation owned funeral home...unless you have an extra 10 Grand to flush down the toilet!
I doubt most consumers even check the ownership.
When my partner's estranged sister passed away unexpectedly earlier this year and we had to make the arrangements, I did some quick research on the funeral homes in the area. The one we went with was still the only one he called. He was reeling, still unable to process his grief, three states away... I can easily see how a funeral home could take advantage of a family in such a vulnerable time, especially with needing more than just the brief viewing and a cremation that we went with. The director we worked with didn't have a very soothing bedside manner, but her no-nonsense attitude was what my partner needed as a no-nonsense kind of guy. I was just satisfied that they were transparent enough to have published their price list online.
As a Florida native I can vouch for our trial lawyers, they will sue anyone for anything and win... Twice..
😂
...
*cries in double jeopardy *
Jose Baez has entered the chat
Sounds sorta like the Dignity group in California. Their name has been popping up all over the place. When my mom passed, we chose the funeral company that our family has been going to for many decades, and although they were under the Dignity label, thankfully they were totally no pressure about everything. Thank you Stephens and Bean for your respect and kindness!!
Dignity is SCI. Everything she’s saying applies to the independent “family owned” mortuary I’m at. They were bought by a smaller investment group and I’m leaving and going to SCI/Dignity.
One of my closest friends went up against SCI before she graduated from mortuary school for preying on elderly people who had limited English. She won, but has been blacklisted by SCI and finding work was a nightmare.
Wow, i salute her! How is she doing today?
I fell for the pre-need thing. But when I tried to reduce my pre-paid expenses, they told me I had to cancel the contract and do a whole new one, but I wasn’t getting any of the money I had paid towards the less expensive plan. Robbery.
Robbery indeed... I hope you reported them.
Also I love your username, my fellow sewing sista ✂
That happens with any insurance. I have one for simple cremation,
but lost what I had paid towards a more elaborate funeral plan.
Me: Wow, you could make a drinking game out of how many times she says “revenue enhancement” in this video.
The credits: PLEASE DON’T.
This made me giggle. Thank you. 😂
Might as well call the funeral home ahead of time if u attempt that drinking game 😂 pre need huh?
Hahaha I had the same thought, made even better by you beating me to it.
Love your informative story telling, and humor. Thanks for what you do!
God, I can only imagine the grin on Gary's face when the jury came back out and announced they'd be awarding his client 500 million dollars xD
Everyone is different, however when my brother died this year we 100% did shop around. We aren’t made of money and even cremation is pricey at the end of it all. Cheaper than burial, but still pricey. This corporate grifting and preying on the mourning families should be illegal.
There are no laws or provisions in place for funeral homes to follow on the books. You will note, even when scandals happen and bodies are not cremated or buried as ordered and paid for by the customer, no refunds are given and no punitive damages are paid. I believe when something goes wrong, the tried and not so true excuse of "hysterical, unreasonable family members" is the overused explanation for funeral problems. The funeral home for my Mom sent her death certificate to my sister instead of me, the appointed. She called daily and made such a menace of herself, they buckled. She immediately cleaned out mothers bank accounts. All the funeral home could say was, "Sorry". No recourse with the faulted commission of certificate custody.
@@imhere653 That REALLY stinks! I am sorry that happened to you!!
@@dropkickmurphy4114
I appreciate your supportive words. People do some very selfish things when a parent dies. Suddenly, all bets are off because the person they were putting an act on for is gone for good. I truly know the meaning of the phrase,"She was the glue that held the family together." I hope for you that the adjustments you have to make because of the death of a family member are trouble-free and no unnecessary misunderstandings occur. It's painful enough to lose a parent without being blown away by meeting your "new" siblings.
I would listen to Caitlin read the ingredients on a cereal box, I don’t think I would find half the things she talks about interesting but I’m always intrigued by her videos. So entertaining and informative at the same time. Thank you Caitlin!!!!
Word!
cereal box ingredients LOL
there's a book called "twinkie, deconstructed." each chapter is about one of the ingredients of a twinkie snack cake. some are grown, some are mined.....
“the wings of justice” is such a great name for a lawyers private jet😭
@LegalEagle
I’m dead serious… These longform videos of yours are so re-watchable! I usually rewatch them at least a half a dozen times!
I don't think anyone can mix comedy and death like you Caitlyn, so subtle yet hilarious.
Matt--Please give some credit to Richard and his followers. :)
@@cotton-Dave huuh
now this is the way i want all my mornings to start! i love hearing Caitlin's sweet dulcet tones 🖤
It's the best way to start a day
I think we are in the same time zone?? I love her. Been awhile eh??
Good morning!
The editing and content in your videos is unparalleled on UA-cam. I’ve been coming back to watch for years now. Thank you.
Story telling at it's best, full of facts. Not a subject I would pick ....
but couldn't stop listening. Great job.
All of her videos are this good
REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS! My uncle's funeral was yesterday and a good friend of mine's was last wednesday. this came right on time. while my uncle went the traditional route, my friend's wife got him a green burial locally and was planted with a tree.
What pray tell is a green burial? The tree? I'm tired of green this or that. The WEF must have your ear 👂.
I have served my country and my community for over 50years. I have family that came over on the Mayflower. My wife is from The Philippines. I started a multicultural funeral home at SCIs back door. I worked hard and managed to be a success story. Thank you for sharing such an awesome video.
GRRRRRRRL. The Mayflower?! I want to see the receipts!
@@ronneyrendon5045 and the one for the mail order bride from the Philippines ...
Please do a story on Dr Ralph Erdman in Texas. He was a corupt medical examiner that faked doing autopsies. He also worked in small counties that did not have facilites to perform an autopsy and rumor has it he did autopsies in the back oh hearses in parking lots.
YIKES !!!😮
😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
Messy.
My mother is the last generation to be buried in my family. My Dad even opted to be Cremated. Funeral Homes are a thing of the past. Instead of mourning a loss, we celebrate the life we were blessed to know and love, turning the death industry into dust.
> we celebrate the life we were blessed to know and love, turning the death industry into dust. Bone dust.
Agreed
I only wish that was true ... but you can't trust them to cremate either.
One crematory threw hundreds of bodies in the forest and sent wood ashes to the families.
And it's expensive to fire up the the furnace so they will burn several bodies at one time. You don't know whose ashes you'll receive.
I was horrified to find out many funeral homes will wait for the mourners to leave before beginning the burial (sound familiar?) then they throw the bodies into the grave and take the coffins back to be resold again & again.
There might be honest funeral homes out there but the bad ones make it impossible to trust any of them.
I no longer leave the dead alone in their last moments on this earth .. i park far enough to be out of the way of the workmen but close enough so they know they are being watched til the last shovel of dirt is in place.
Just curious Maggie .. if 'funeral homes are a thing of the past' .. who is cremating your people?
@@briannab5296 I get where you're coming from, but I don't think they mean reputable funerary services are a thing of the past. Just that we should work to not support all the land grabbing for cemeteries, monopolistic corporate practices, and shady activities that you mentioned.