Odd sight on the A1203 this morning.

riding home last night, I passed a large group of people standing by a
pedestrian crossing on The Highway, just past Stepney Baths.

bunches of flowers were tied to the railings and traffic lights, so
presumably some poor sod had met the match at the crossing.

This morning, the flower bunches had increased in number, and, there
on the island in the middle of the road, were about 30 empty beer
bottles.

All neatly lined up. I can't think why this is seen as a fitting
"tribute" to the poor unfortunate soul who the flowers were for.

That said, I don't "get" the flower thing, either.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..74326../..18420.../..3184./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^' RBR Landmarks: 12 Pts: 220 Miles: 914

 

'Flowers need beer too'

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Salad Dodger amazed us all with this pearl of
wisdom:

Depend who the poor unfortunate was, dunnit.

I see it as a sign from God to watch what I'm doing.

 

Maybe it was some sort of protest against a drunk driver?

 

There's one of those at the top of a local road where a scooter went
under a lorry. They've added various wreaths of artificial flowers so
it's a shrine. They've been common in southern europe for a long time
and are known as descanos.

I do. But I'll use someone else's words to try and explain.

"Descano is Spanish for rest or relief. Descanos are small roadside
crosses adorned with plastic flowers, religious icons and other
decorations. These cruciforms mark a spot where an individual died in
an accident. In the past pioneers used them to mark deaths by Indian
attack and pallbearers used them to mark coffin resting places on the
trip to the cemetery. Part of the psychological explanation for
descanos is that the little shrines placed where there have been
deaths provide benefit for those left. At that spot, someone’s journey
in life stopped unexpectedly. For that person, and for those left
behind, the path was broken - they mark a turning place"

<adds another note to the liminal file>

 

Sometime around Wed, 27 Apr 2005 20:55:51 +0100, Lady Nina babbled on
about:

I read an article a while ago about a CC(1)that was creating such
'shrines' at potential blackspots to slow down traffic.

(1) Derbyshire maybe?

 

That reminds me. God took a zap at Tony Blair, in his aeroplane, today,
and the senile **** missed him.

 

PJ O'Rourke mentions them in one of his essays, and remarks on how, when
you come round a corner, on the wrong side of the road, somewhere in
Latin America, and through your side window you see these little
shrines, with their forest of crosses....

.... you know you're gonna die.

 

In message

I thought it hit

That's the problem with gods ...

ask any of them what a faraday cage is, they can't give you an answer

 

raden wrote

It is a place to imprison innocent rich fruit cakes while they rest and
recuperate after you have finished giving them a damn good cooking.

 

North Wales, shirley? Maybe that **** Brunstrom wants to mark every
poor sod's final roadside resting place with a scamera, suitably painted
black, of course.

 

There's one of those down the road from me - it's a shithead chav thing

The best bit about the one near me, though, is that the little **** died
while driving pissed

Fucking wankers...

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
Extreme Racing http://www.veggie-dave.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

sp "black/gold"?

 

Ditto the Binley Road in Coventry: in 1997 or so some little scrote
bought it while riding a stolen moped with no lid, every year since the
place is festooned with flowers and there's a story in the local rag
about how little johnny's still remembered, etc etc.

Same thing on the new Alveston bypass in Derby: They'd only just
finished the road last year when a bunch of chavs decided to eschew the
obvious benefits of the pedestrian overpass, and play chicken. One of
the little buggers wasn't quite quick enough, prompting calls for the
speed limit to be reduced.....

Tiff

 

No matter how awful the person, there's still usually someone who loved them
and who will miss and remember them.

Whether or not that makes sense, who knows.

 

It's the 'tragic death of youngster remembered' headline that annoys me.
Its not tragic, it's Darwin in effect, is all it is.

Tiff

 

Perfectly.

 

Between J8 and J9 of the M40 there is a flowery "shrine" to some poor ****
who misjudged the bend [1]

**** knows how it was first established, and **** knows how it is
"maintained" as it sits right on the grassy embankment.

Been there for a few years now it has.

[1] It's okay at around the ton, but much more and it gets a bit
uncomfortable.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005), X-FOT#000, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Chris Soanes

There's one of those near me. Toerag nicks car to drive home from the
club, bins it, dies.

There was some discussion in my local about having a floral tribute
made, spelling the word "THIEF".

We decided against it.

Just.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

I think they're a tacky symptom of our, current, cultural immaturity in
dealing with death.