If anything ever happens to B, remind me not to marry an African chief. Good friends from our parish are facing what I consider a financial catastrophe as a consequence of the death of the wife's father, who happened to be chief of some Nigerian tribe.
"We have to host and cater a three-day party for 3,800 people," she told me yesterday at Mass. Whaaaaat!!??#$^^&@# And this also involves hiring professional mourners, plus a myriad of other professional death workers, to ensure the chief's send off is up-to-snuff. That's insane in my world, but normal in hers. But it doesn't end there. Before the African festivities, they had to host another huge reception in Toronto and since they cannot cremate the body, it has to be held on ice and then shipped to Nigeria. "You'll be in debtor's prison," I said, channeling Charles Dickens. All told, when I did the math, it added up to about $50,000.
"In our culture, it's tea and a couple of sandwiches over a couple of hours," I said with relief. "Well, is one of your sons going to be chief now?" I asked. "Oh no, that will take months while people jockey for the position." So, you get nothing in return for your effort.
As I said, don't marry an African chief.
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A very dear old friend from Ghana whom Brian also knew back in the old days -
ReplyDeleteremained a good friend. He stayed in touch with myself and family for over 25yrs when he was Ambassador to Switzerland, then Japan. returned home and the new President made him V.P.
He died 4yrs ago and had the same kind of funeral. His Uncle is the Ghanian
Cardinal who ran with the present Pope.
Cardinal Turkson. His name was James L. Amissah. I still hear from his brother and wife. I have a book of the funeral - amazing.