Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

R-JENERATION: Why Worry?

Living is the best way to avoid obsessing about death

Woodlawn Cemetery is the final resting place for many Las Vegans. Photo by BREANNA ZURITA/R-JENERATION

You know what I hate? People who go on about how they are afraid of death, and how death is a taboo topic.

Should we be absorbed with death? Should death occupy all our waking thoughts? Probably not. That is how the ancient Egyptians were, and we all know how that turned out.

Pharaoh's wife: "Look at our new beautiful son, a new seed with his whole life spread out in front of him."

Pharaoh: "Yep. So, where do you want to build his tomb?"

Maybe the obsession route isn't the best way to go. Still, we are a little queasy when it comes to death, but I don't think people -- even teens such as myself -- should fear discussing it.

With that said, I think the most frightening thing about death is that it is final. That is it. The End. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

There's always the chance that a couple will get back together, and Michael Jordan will probably still be coming out of retirement long after he is eligible for Social Security. But death is just about the only thing in the world that is actually final.

And few people get the opportunity to die in the manner they would like. I don't know if anyone has actually conducted a poll on how people would like to die, but I would imagine that many people simply wish to die of old age.

As for me, I would like to drop out of a plane and land in front of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in some wet cement, just as some superstar is about to make his or her handprints in the sidewalk. I am probably alone in such a death wish.

In reality, the leading cause of death in America is heart disease, which may or may not constitute dying of old age, depending on your opinion.

Of course, death in any circumstance is almost never looked at in positive terms. We are so contrary to the idea of death that we even create laws to prevent people from killing themselves.

Suicide, with few exceptions, is looked at throughout the world as reprehensible. Even when some cultures practiced ritual suicide, it was the last resort in the face of unbearable shame.

Even in legend, our distaste for death is apparent. How many legends deal with an object or source for eternal life?

And the harbinger of death has never been portrayed as a cheery figure. The Grim Reaper provides a nice little agricultural metaphor for life, but there is nothing subtle about a black-robed skeleton carrying a scythe.

It's unlikely that most people's attitudes toward death will change anytime soon. Perhaps we should just remember that life ought to be lived, not spent obsessing about what will happen in death.