It amazes me how quickly, some folks will get fired up when a post refers to "bad cops" and insist that most cops are good, there are only a few bad apples, but sit silent when any other profession is painted with a big, fat, wide brush. Before I get chewed up here, let me just state that I believe that there are bad examples in any profession. But, they are outnumbered by the good ones.
I am a funeral director and have met with a lot of folks in my 20 some odd years. Most of the choices that are made in my office are made by and for the comfort and needs of the surviving families. Any good and decent funeral director will allow people to make the choices that are right for them, not what is best for his bottom line.
Funeral homes are like any other business in that we need profit to survive, we have families to feed and bills to pay, just like everyone else. If you feel that your local funeral home is too high priced, price shop before the need arises, get some idea of what your choices are going to cost you. FTC regulations require a funeral home anywhere in the United States to provide upon request (face to face, not by mail or fax) a copy for retention of their General Price list.You might be a little bit surprised. You might also be surprised when your family expresses a need to have a service, instead of rolling your carcass off the highway to feed the buzzards.
You might also want to look into the legalities of what you want. I have had many widows come in demanding that their husband was supposed to go straight to the crematory, because he said so, how dare I not honor that? In Florida, where I live and work, the statutes require a 48 hour waiting period after the death and a signed death certificate by the attending physician, which has been reviewed and approved by the local medical examiner, before cremation can take place. If everything goes our way, the cremation might get done in three days, but of course, since her husband said he was to go straight to the crematory, it is my fault that we can not do it that way. Just me being greedy, trying to get an extra dollar. I did not make the laws, but I do have to obey them.
And it is funny that when I miss Christmas dinners or family birthdays, because I need to do reconstruction work on an accident victim or seeing a family that just lost a loved one, my prices never go up, they are the same. I have personally given discounts and forgiven debts to help people that were having a tough time. I have buried children for nothing or at worst, my cost on merchandise, services for free, all of my professional life. Yet I am a scam artist and taking advantage of people. Until you have given someone the opportunity to see their child one last time, you will never understand why I do what I do for a living. And no amount of explaining on my part can ever change that.
Before you start taking jabs at funeral homes, consider that not all of them are crooks or money hungry, no doubt some are, but most are there to help when you need them.
Sorry for the rant, but some of these comments and opinions hit me wrong, perhaps I should have just kept quiet.
And back to the original post, in most states you can have burial on your private property, without embalming (which is not required in most cases), you can even do the burial yourself, but you will have to follow all of the rules that a funeral home does.
