Back when people didn't drive around parking lots for 10 minutes trying to find a spot 15 feet closer to the entrance, coffins came in 24-inch widths; now the standard is 27 inches. But 3 extra inches is not nearly large enough for some of our more rotund dearly departed. Some funeral homes also supply "oversize" caskets up to 52 inches wide, which might also be a cheaper way to go if you ever know some thin twins who meet their maker on the same day.
Of course, with a bigger casket comes a bigger burial plot. While some cemeteries are starting to sell wider plots, many require customers to buy two plots next to each other to accommodate the larger coffins, meaning the same indignity that larger people suffered on airplanes when forced to buy two seats might actually follow them to the grave. And why not? Land is land. It's not the cemetery's fault that a cadaver is two plots wide.
Even then, we're not done with the ways the world is going to shame the obese once they're dead. Heavier caskets require special loading equipment and hearses, which are already much longer and heavier than your average vehicle, meaning the fatty's beloveds have to rent a special hearse as well. With all the more complex and specialty aspects in mind, a supersized funeral can end up costing $3,000 more than one for an "average"-size person.
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Money is notoriously slimming.
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