There is a tradition dating back to ancient Egyptian times for professional mourners who would turn up at funerals of people they had never met. They would perform various roles – wailing uncontrollably, dancing, or just paying their respects. They can be found in the Old Testament, and the first reports of it in China are from the 8th century.
A similar service was on offer in Essex for £45 until the middle of 2019. According to rentamourner.co.uk it closed down because it was “too difficult to scale this operation to serve the whole country”. Bizarre as it might sound, there was a market for it – providing solace to a family who wanted there to be more people at a funeral. To suspend reality or to give someone the send off they deserved.
Written by Max Rushden
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/31/kobe-bryant-death-social-media under the title “The race to grieve: how social media has made professional mourners of us all | Max Rushden”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
