I am constantly amazed at how funeral directors are perceived by the public and in our communities. Of course, like most small business owners, funeral directors are held to a certain level of expectations, but for funeral directors that bar seems to stretch just a bit higher. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this, but what bothers me is when people think of funeral directors with a creepiness factor.
This was brought to light for me earlier this year when a contestant on the reality TV show “Bachelor” was a funeral director from California. The media went haywire with this and we even bought into the hype here on ConnectingDirectors.com, but for different reasons then the traditional media outlets. It was great to see a funeral director on TV showing that they are normal people just like everyone else and the language of love holds no bounds.
I read an article this weekend that really sparked this topic up again. Ironically, the article was about another female funeral director from Chino Hills, California who is in the running to be “Miss Galaxy”, where the winner serves as a community ambassador for the Major League Soccer team, the LA Galaxy, at dozens of events throughout the year.
In the article Daniella Marcantoni talks about her role as a funeral director and embalmer and she talks about how some people, once they hear about her profession, have “preconceived notions that we’re (funeral directors) old and grumpy and depressed. Or serial killers. Or have weird fetishes. Really?”
I know other professions have preconceived notions about them, but why are funeral directors automatically hit with the “creepy” card and not the compassionate, and caring, card?
Here is a link to the article about Daniella: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_18973442
Here is a link to the Daniella’s Miss Galaxy Video: http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth
