Recently, a friend of Miss Landers, Jack,
passed away and she helped his wife
with a luncheon after the funeral.
Among other things, she decorated 10 round tables with centerpieces
depicting things that were part of Jack's life. One table had toy car
mustangs and a map representing a hobby of his, another had books from a famous
author that he was friends with, and yet another had a group of
Beanie Babies showing that he was an animal lover. The other tables
were decorated in a similar way and really gave a good idea of who
Jack was. It was a total surprise to his wife and she was quite moved
by it. Miss Landers bought some of the things she used to decorate
with and borrowed other things from friends and family.
Now here's the part you have to help me
understand. People started leaving with parts of the centerpieces. Not just one person, but many. Miss Landers was able to stop a couple of people from taking
things that she had borrowed, but they had no explanation when they
gave them back to her. They just gave them back.
What do you think was going on? There
was no announcement to help yourself or suggestion that there would
be a drawing for them. They weren't in a basket by the
door suggesting that they were “party favors” for the grieving
crowd. Was
this a custom that I don't know about? Or was this just a crowd
mentality where one person took something and everyone else followed?
Or was this just tacky behavior that was totally inappropriate
especially in the setting it was in? Help me understand.
