I thought that I’d raise the subject of the Chavorial – also known as Roadside memorials / shrines – for discussion.
The number of these roadside shrines seems to have grown ten-fold over recent years....and they’re morbid, tacky, distasteful and cause a mess that no one cleans up.
These public memorials are something that started after Princess Diana's death and has really got out of hand now. When Diana died, the picture of one bouquet of flowers hanging on Kensington Palace gates would have moved anybody. The aftermath of thousands more being added was crass, insensitive and quite frankly a public humiliation for this country.
I don't mean to dictate how people should grieve, nor do I want to come across as heartless, but it's a way of mourning that, in all honesty, comes off as ‘chav-ish’. If you dropped dead of a heart attack whilst mowing the lawn, your relatives wouldn't leave a pile of flowers, a teddy bear, some flags and a soccerball shirt there to decompose would they? No, they would leave some flowers on your grave or by your remembrance plaque if you were cremated.
These chavorials are terribly mawkish and ugly; grieving friends and relatives should really find some other way of remembering. Can you imagine what Britain would be like if there were these inappropriate memorials placed for everyone who died? You wouldn't be able to walk up the street.
People should be encouraged to remember in some more personal way without expecting everyone else to share their grief.
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