Saturday, 8 September 2007

Pink Coffin

Today I was out with my wife and daughter. A was a sunny autumn day. Sun was shining. It was quite warm for this time of year. We walked to an outside marketplace. My daughter had cathed a cold and was sleeping in a stroller. I felt hungry and wanted to have something to eat. My wife agreed and said that it would be nice time to eat since baby was asleep. So we chose a trailer that was selling coffee and sandwiches. I bought a small coffee in a paper cup and a cheese sandwich. I chose a table that was out of shadows. I took a newspaper and read it while I sipped my coffee. Sandwich tasted good. It was made of halved white bread, halves coated with butter. It had sliced tomatoes, sliced egg, sliced cucumber and cheese. I took my first bite carelessly and dropped a slice of cheese to the ground. I placed the bread on a paperdish and took the droppings to trashbin.
I was reading a newspaper and my wife read some ladies magazine. We didn't talk much.
The marketplace was located near lake.
I finished reading the paper. I watched seagulls and pigeons making their turns and competing of leftovers. Sun reflexed from old white steel boat that was nowadays used as a restaurant. My wife finished eating. We looked each other. Where to now? It was saturday and we had all the time in the world. We slowly took our trashed to trashbin and prepared to move on. We decided to go to a nearby shopping mall.
My wife was walking a strolled and I walked alongside. We crossed a red bridge. We walked to the shopping mall entrance. I looked around saw a man in pink suite and a hat. To me it looked quite unusual. So we went in the lobby. The man in pink was talking to some younsgsters. And there it was. The pink coffin. Lying peacefully in a middle of saturday full shopping mall. Man was giving leaflets.
My curious rose. I had to find out what is going on.
I approached the man. He had just finished speaking to group of girls in their 20's.
I asked what is the name of the game. He looked at me like "Haven't you seen a man dressed in pink suite standing next to a pink coffin before?"
Now I noticed that the man had a camera in his hands. The man started to speak.
"So we're doing a campaign against smoking. People are asked to lay down in the coffin. I take a photo. We then publish these pictures in the internet."
So that was it? A non-smoking campaign. I had quitted two years ago. It felt an absurd but good idea to lay down in the coffin. I had my own camera with me. So my wife took a picture of me laying peacefully in a pink coffin. It kind of suited me. When I die I want to be placed in a pink coffin. Priest should be dressed in pink. Church should be decorated in pink. Dresscode for guests should be pink. I would be driven in a pink body wagon. Elvis's "Pink Cadillac" would be the song that would be sung when people would lay me down in ground.
Wouldn't that be pink?

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