Now, if you know me very well you're probably thinking I mean that I'm dying from having to take math. True. That's not an exaggeration as I think this math class just might do me in this semester... But then I think that every time I take math, right?
However, my death class is actually just that. A class on death and dying. It's a sociology class about how societies, the U.S. in particular, deal with death, dying, and bereavement. It's really very interesting but it's oh so fun to see people's reactions when I tell them what class I'm taking. One girl stopped by our classroom on the second day of class looking for the room she should be in and asked what class it was. "Death." She didn't even say anything else, just turned and walked quickly away.
The professor walked in the first day, "You're all here for death and dying?" We all just laughed.
You also get some weird looks when reading the text book in public. Some people would rather not sit by you. I wonder what people who are going to mortician school feel like? They must be the pariahs of society.
Now, I do have to say there are a couple people in the class that are a little too into this whole death thing and one girl even has the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) skull tattooed on her arm. She's also super excited because there's a school of design that just opened in an old morgue and you can still see blood on the drains in the floor that they couldn't get out. "It's so cool to just go sit in there." Ok, seriously, that's a little over the top. Fortunately, most of the class are normal and aren't there for the gross factor.
Since death is not something we're comfortable with, and we certainly don't talk about it, it makes for some interesting looks when you take this sort of class. If you thought I was crazy before, now you know. We're going on a field trip to a mortuary and cemetery and I told the J he could go with me but he said he'll pass. Chicken. heh, heh.
Hmm, I think I might enjoy Halloween a little more than usual this year...
Well, I need to go catch up on my death reading and find a topic for my death paper. hahahaha!
(I'm having entirely too much fun with this...)
4 comments:
I love sociology classes because they open our eyes to our own cultural nuances. Reading your post made me want to go back to school...quite an accomplishment because basically nothing makes me feel like that.
Yeah, I think it sounds interesting, too! Not sit-in-the-mortuary-and-stare-at-the-blood-stains interesting either, but definitely something that would be intriguing to learn about! And I don't think you're weird!
I think it would be hard for me not to make "know-it-all" comments about what really happens when you die, where you go, who you'll see etc. But the morbid chick has a problem. At least you get SOME fun about mentioning math when you can connect it with death!
What an interesting class! I can't wait for more posts on the topics from that class. Halloween is going to be killer fun in that class. =)
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