Mourners-for-rent hired to blub at funerals

[Evil Eye]

For £45 an hour, the fake mourners can be rented to cry for the duration of a funeral service in order to swell the numbers at funerals.



Ian Robertson, the founder of Rent-a-Mourner, in Braintree, Essex, admits the idea may be unfamiliar to the British, although the phenomenon is popular in places such as Asia.



The mourners-for-hire are briefed on the life of the deceased and would be able to talk to friends and relatives as if they really had known their loved one.



Rent-a-Mourner has 20 staff on its books to hire out for funerals, which Mr Robertson said were friends of his rather than professional actors.



He added that they are not required to well up, but are mainly there just to make up the numbers.



We were actually inspired by the market growth in China, said Mr Robertson.



The Middle Eastern way is to provide wailers - crying women - as opposed to the quiet, dignified methods we use.



Our staff will meet with the client beforehand and agree 'the story', so our staff will either have known the deceased professionally or socially. They will be informed of the deceased's background, achievements, failures etc. so they can converse with other mourners with confidence.



Mr Robertson set up Rent-a-Mourner in January last year, and said he has had 52 bookings since the company began, with 15 in the first six months.



It is growing in the UK - our bookings are up 50 per cent year on year, he said.



He added that his biggest source of his bookings were for funerals in Hull, and has sent staff to 12 funerals there, adding that he could not explain why that area showed the biggest demand.



The company also has plans to expand, after having to turn down more than 60 requests because the funerals were too far away for the fake mourners to get to.



Consumer expert Jasmine Birtles, who conducted the research, believes multi-cultural Britain is experiencing a cultural shift in the way its mourners say their final farewell.



Birtles, the founder of personal finance site MoneyMagpie.com, said: Hiring a stranger to weep at a funeral may seem strange, but it's a deep-seated tradition in the East.



It's still a niche market at the moment but demand for professional mourners is increasing year on year as more people from East Asian and Middle Eastern countries move to the UK, bringing their customs with them.



The rise in popularity shows a cultural shift taking place in how we choose to pay our last respects and like with many other cultural imports, it's only a matter of time before it crosses over into mainstream culture.



At the moment it's not the sort of thing most people can treat as a career, but if it continues to increase in popularity then crying on demand could soon become a highly-prized skill.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...rners-for-rent-hired-to-blub-at-funerals.html





That's kinda sad.

 

[Jazzy]

That made me want to

reading it!

 

[Ashley]

OK, who would agree to cry at a funeral of a person they DIDN'T KNOW? I could imagine this would involve some kind of serious research about the deceased and their family...not something I'd want to do, that's for sure! That's a crazy idea over all and it's just nuts that anybody would want to do this!

 

[Evil Eye]

OK, who would agree to cry at a funeral of a person they DIDN'T KNOW?

Someone getting paid enough I guess.

 

[Ashley]

OK, who would agree to cry at a funeral of a person they DIDN'T KNOW?

Someone getting paid enough I guess.

I mentioned that one would have to do research on the deceased and their family before hand? This is what I find:

The mourners-for-hire are briefed on the life of the deceased and would be able to talk to friends and relatives as if they really had known their loved one.

OK, one thing that confuses me is, wouldn't they have to know a bit about the family too? I mean, sure it helps if you have explanations of what the deaceased person was like, and I suppose the sermon/homily could really help too, but wouldn't it help to know what the family is like too so you can talk to them on a more personal level? I'm just getting all kinds of confused right now.

 

[DrLeftover]

And this is new, how?

Go look up Amos 5 : 16 in the Old Testament. He is talking about "professional mourners". Usually, widows or others who had no other income who would stand around and wail and throw dust up in the air at 'the funerals of strangers'.

I'll save you the trouble:

Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing in all the streets
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

http://www.biblegateway.com

Not everything in the News, is.

 

[Jazzy]

And this is new, how?

Go look up Amos 5 : 16 in the Old Testament. He is talking about "professional mourners". Usually, widows or others who had no other income who would stand around and wail and throw dust up in the air at 'the funerals of strangers'.

I'll save you the trouble:

Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing in all the streets
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

http://www.biblegateway.com

Not everything in the News, is.

It's new in the aspect in two ways:

#1: I don't see any amount of monetary payment in your quote.

From Article: For £45 an hour, the fake mourners can be rented to cry

#2: In your quote, the mourners had no personal contact with friends and relatives.

From Article: The mourners-for-hire are briefed on the life of the deceased and would be able to talk to friends and relatives as if they really had known their loved one.

 

[DrLeftover]

True, the prophet of old failed to disclose the union scale of wages for the mourners, but they were paid for their efforts.

I'm not sure about the pre-game briefing. That, in fact, may be a new wrinkle.

So in that light. I stand corrected.

Thank you.