I hate these streetside memorials. My apologies to families who have felt the need to place these random mini-monuments to departed loved ones as it is not my intention to be disrespectful of your loss. But your grief and probably violent loss intrude into my organized-by-choice happy view of the world.

I do not watch television or read local newspapers for a number of reasons. First is the inescapable repetitious display of local violent crimes which induces fear, worry, and a kind of false concern. Besides me and many others being taken to distraction by our knowledge of these violent acts, we are consumed by the fear of how and when this might happen to ourselves or a loved one. Your temporary cenotaph has the same effect as the endless parade of tragedy that is known as the evening news. I know the street can be dangerous, but I do not need your constant reminder day in and day out that someone died violently at this intersection. It is a given that we all die, that every day someone will suffer needlessly, but we do not put semi-permanent reminders in hospitals, we don’t maintain months-long vigils at hospice, and we don’t alter our homes with permanent memorials that remain when ownership changes hands. Your tragedy should not be part of the reality I choose to live with, stop intruding with your grief into my happiness.

I have no problems with cemeteries, they effectively remind us to respect those we have lost and are a memorial for those who have passed, they are the socially accepted places society has chosen to place our departed.