Author: Alan Creedy

A Fat Man Dresses For Work

Written by Alan Creedy on October 19, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, General Topics, Leadership. 11 Comments on A Fat Man Dresses For Work

“My name is Alan and I am overweight!”

Last week I was shocked when someone said to me, “Alan, you are always well dressed and so professional looking.” It really took me aback. I certainly don’t see myself that way.

But I DO see myself as a professional who has a responsibility to myself and employers (when I wasn’t self employed) to present a professional image. Too often I see people with my same problem in funeral service who look absolutely terrible. So here are some lessons I have learned on the way.

Lesson 1: You will have to spend more on your work clothing than thinner people. Joseph Banks isn’t going to work for you. I am just below the upper size limit at Brooks Brothers. It costs more but it makes a difference in how clothes hang on me.

Lesson 2: It may be embarrassing but big men’s stores “get me” and are very helpful.

Lesson 3: We can’t wear pleated pants because they blouse out and look like jodhpurs.

Lesson 4: We can’t wear suspenders because they frame the problem and make us look much much worse.

Lesson 5: When we wear a tie our shirt collars should be the non button straight type that have a normal spread. Button downs on a fat man wearing a tie will blouse out too much.

Lesson 6: When we go business casual it is the opposite. We need to wear button down collars so they won’t spread out and look sloppy.

Lesson 7: If you are over 16 collar size get extra long ties. The end of your tie should come to your belt line even if you can’t see it.

Lesson 8: Wear suit coats that button and keep them buttoned when you stand. The better the quality of the cloth the better it will “hang.” Never go cheap. If you are bigger than a 48 chest go custom made.

Lesson 9: Your shirt collar size should allow your forefinger and middle finger to be inserted between your neck and the shirt. Rule of Thumb: a shirt collar should fit well enough to remain buttoned all day without discomfort but not so large that it looks too big.

Lesson 10: Buy shirts with your specific arm length. Outlet store sizes of 34 / 35 are always 35, for instance, and will show too much cuff when you have your coat on.

Lesson 11: Never wear a shirt that is small enough to pull on the buttons it just exaggerates the problem. A custom made shirt is only about $30 more than a Brooks Brothers shirt and lasts longer.

Lesson 12: Wear comfortable shoes with laces that will take a shine. Women especially notice how a man takes care of his shoes and will immediately correlate run down, unshined shoes with poor hygiene and slovenliness.

Lesson 13: Tuck your undershirt into your underpants it will give you a smoother look to your shirt.

Lesson 14: If you wear non – iron shirts iron them anyway.

Lesson 15: Bow – Ties. I love them but they are a no – no unless your first name is Ronald and your last starts with M and you like french fries

Lesson 16: Don’t wear loud clothing that draws attention to your body…see lesson 15

Lesson 17: If you wear eyeglasses find frames that reduce the size of your face instead of accentuate it.

This Is What I Would Tell My Staff

Written by Alan Creedy on October 5, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership, Practitioner Forum: Insights and Ideas. 9 Comments on This Is What I Would Tell My Staff

What happened to social etiquette?

You spend a couple of million dollars on a new building and you let the public be disappointed the moment they enter the door.

I visit a lot of funeral homes and the experience ranges from abysmal to glorious with a whole lot more on the abysmal side than the glorious side. We all know first impressions are everything.

So, here is what I would tell my staff:

The lobby is not the employee lounge
Stand when someone enters a room (stand, don’t struggle to get up)
Look people in the eye
Greet everyone
- introduce yourself
- ask if you can help them
- say good morning, good afternoon or good evening…not Hey, How ya’ doin’ or some other colloquialism
- offer to shake hands
For frequent visitors like delivery and mail get to know their names and use them
Wear your name tag where it can be seen
Don’t slouch — stand up and sit up straight
Be warm and approachable
Offer them a cup of coffee or bottle of water
- have a bottle of water ready for the mail person every time (they know a lot of people)
Be present with everyone
Offer them a tour if they are waiting
If you offer gifts like note pads, coin purses and the like offer them one
Eat your lunch somewhere other than the public areas
Take care of your personal appearance
- Ladies skip the cleavage
- Men wear your coats
- Men groom the facial hair

In other words make everyone who enters your door glad they came in.

Casket Merchandising and The Hawthorne Effect

Written by Alan Creedy on September 22, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Money: Getting it and Keeping it. 11 Comments on Casket Merchandising and The Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne effect occurs when individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The concept is more simple than it sounds. People change their behavior when they are being observed. Where this applies to casket merchandising is subtle but important.

The profession has come to rely on a system of passive selling. Rather than assuming the role of professional expert and consultant we prefer to create physical systems to “sell” our customers. Our faith in these systems (called showrooms) is so strong that we have become ultra sensitive to any changes. So, if we make changes the results actually occur in us and not in the customer.

Whether the result is positive or negative depends on our belief in the system. So, if you spend $50,000 to build a retail style room with special lighting AND YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT IT your customers will respond in kind to your enthusiasm. and when you eventually get bored with it they follow your lead.

One funeral director prefers a Batesville style show room, another likes the Aurora electronic showroom. The results are the same because they are dependent on the attitude and belief system of the funeral director.

But none of that is my point

Physical merchandise is a distraction. None of us have ever heard of a family choosing a funeral home because of its caskets. Moreover, funeral directors frequently tell me that families often have no recollection of the casket they purchased months later.

Our preoccupation with caskets blinds us to the real value people are seeking.

At the time of a death humans naturally enter a state of “disequilibrium”. We call this state grief. When people are in a state of disequilibrium their natural response is to want to resolve it. A large part of our role and the role of their social circle is to give them a safe and reassuring place to begin that process. Our ability to create that place is entirely dependent on our own skills…not the merchandise.

We have come to believe the merchandise is the primary value we offer. And, so, we downplay our service charges, link our fortunes to an item that is purchased by only 1 out of 2 people in North America and see no hope of ever recovering the lost revenue.

What is the solution? Realize that resolving the disequilibrium, providing a safe place and guiding people to a positive future is our highest calling and deserves the same effort and investment that merchandising has consumed over our history.

My friend Tom Parmalee once said:

Money is only an issue when value is in doubt

Our value lies in the people of this profession and their ability to help people restore their equilibrium.

Confronting Passive Aggressive Behavior at Work.

Written by Alan Creedy on September 1, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership. 2 Comments on Confronting Passive Aggressive Behavior at Work.

Most people in the funeral profession are almost pathologically averse to confrontation. As a result, the predominant internal culture in funeral homes is Passive Aggressive. If you have been a subscriber for long you know I have a personal issue with what I call the “Ten Call Tyrant”. He or she is that individual you think brings you ten calls so you let them get away with murder. The consequence is a continual undermining of every initiative you start.

Chronic and sustained Passive aggressive behavior is a masked way of expressing anger. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that passive aggressive people like you. The only people passive aggressive people like is themselves. It is a maladaptive approach to life.

Yet, all of us are, at one time or another, prone to act in passive aggressive ways.

How it manifests:

Frequent sarcasm (often excused with “I was only kidding”)
Putting others down
Giving people the silent treatment rather than addressing issues
Sulking behavior
Being “cooperatively uncooperative”.
- agreeing to do something but never doing it or doing it poorly
Gossiping
Secretly undermining new initiatives or another person
It’s never their fault
have excuses for everything…usually ones that make it someone else’s fault

Strategies for handling passive aggressive people:

“If you fail to walk in your god – given authority someone will take it away from you and use it against you.”

Passive aggressive people are masters of this art.

1. Make sure you identify it

2. Don’t let it escalate

3. Create a safe environment by making it clear that you are willing to listen and entertain OPEN conversations

4. Be careful what you say and how you say it. These people will manipulate vagueness to their advantage so be specific. If someone often undermines you by talking about your ideas behind your back don’t say I want you to stop talking behind my back. Say, “When you told others that such and such was a bad idea it was inappropriate and disrespectful. The appropriate way would be to come to me directly to discuss you concerns.”

5. Do not interact with them indirectly. Email is a very passive aggressive mechanism. Always talk with them face to face.

6. Do not let them distract you by bringing up the failures of others or your own failures. Stay focused. IGNORE these attempts to derail the conversation. Tell them you wouldn’t talk about others any more than you would talk about them. “Right now we are only talking about you.”

7. STAY CALM. If you feel yourself getting out of control adjourn the meeting. DO NOT give them cause to play the victim.

Set Clear Standards

One of the reasons, besides the non confrontational style of most funeral home owners, that passive aggression is so common in this profession is the failure of most of our leaders to be clear about standards and expectations. This takes time and courage but it will rapidly heal much of the dysfunction stress and angst so many feel on a day to day basis.

Creedy & McQueen Earn Exit Planning Certification

Written by Alan Creedy on August 17, 2015. Posted in General Topics, The Creedy Commentary. 1 Comment on Creedy & McQueen Earn Exit Planning Certification

You’re here…NOW WHAT! There are more ways to transition a business than just selling to a consolidator. You can transition fast and you can transition slow. You can plan to have your kids succeed you or your employees or another funeral home operator. But the one entity you want to protect yourself from is the tax man. Bill and I are now experts in helping you transition your business they way YOU want to and keep more of what you get.

Succession Planning Associates owners Alan Creedy and Bill McQueen are pleased to announce that each has earned the Business Enterprise Institute (BEI) Certified Exit Planner (CExP™) designation for Exit Planning. The BEI CExP designation sets the standard for Exit Planning certification. Achieving the designation requires stringent training, rigorous testing, and in-depth Exit Plan Creation coursework.

“This is another example of the ongoing personal and professional dedication Succession Planning Associates brings to our funeral service clients,” stated Creedy. “We continually strive to increase our ability to better serve the funeral profession by achieving the highest professional and education standards in each of our service areas. In the end, it’s all about acquiring the expertise to employ the strategies that give our clients even more options in transferring their business to family, staff or third parties needed by private owners.”

The CExP requires more than 100 hours of live and online initial training and 30 hours of real-world casework creating exit plans. The program covers all areas of exit planning: the critical elements of a successful exit plan, understanding and identifying owner objectives, quantifying business and personal financial resources, maximizing and protecting business value, ownership transfers to third parties, ownership transfers to insiders (children, key employees, ESOPs), business continuity, family business planning and deferred compensation. BEI Certified Exit Planners are required to complete 30 continuing education hours every two years.

“Receiving this certification will give our clients greater confidence that the service they receive is professional in quality and adheres to ethical and industry standards of practice,” commented McQueen. “And like funeral professionals, we must complete continuing education requirements every two year to retain this designation – and more importantly – stay abreast of the latest changes in industry rules and regulations.”

“By successfully completing the BEI Certified Exit Planner program, Alan Creedy and Bill McQueen are now premiere Exit Planning professionals,” said John Brown, President of Business Enterprise Institute. “Their in-depth knowledge on a wide array of business subjects includes building a business’ value, identifying exit objectives, addressing key employee incentive planning and retention issues, incorporating business continuity planning, and establishing wealth preservation.”

About Creedy and Company: Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Creedy & Company is a Business Advisory Service founded by Alan Creedy in 2008. His hands-on industry experience enables him to quickly analyze core problems, develop/prioritize solutions and implement strategies for quick turnaround. For more information, visit www.funeralhomeconsulting.org

About McQueen & Siddall: With offices in Florida and Arizona, McQueen & Siddall, LLP is a personal and business legacy law firm. The firm specializes in estate planning & administration, asset protection, business entity formation & succession planning as well as outside general counsel. For more information, visit www.LegacyProtectionLawyers.com.

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Serve more families, work less and be more profitable

Written by Alan Creedy on August 3, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership. 1 Comment on Serve more families, work less and be more profitable

Staff shortages among licensed professions have been successfully addressed by changing the model in the medical and legal professions. The solution is simple: focus skilled licensed staff on the right duties and supplement them with trained lower level staff. The result: Licensees handle more cases, work fewer hours, produce more income and, as a byproduct, are happier in their work.

I became aware of such a working model in funeral service last year and traced it to my friend David Tudor. I asked David to briefly share his insights with us.

Alan Creedy

The Highest and Best Use Model For Funeral Home Staff Management

Softening revenue resulting from increased cremation has funeral home profitability very much compromised. In addition to reduced revenue, appropriate profitability has a direct correlation to wages and benefits paid to staff for delivering at need funeral services. Wage costs along with associated benefits often are 45% or more of sales; when, in fact, this ratio should be less than 40% combined.

Since the highest paid employees are often licensed funeral directors it is here we should first focus on determining optimum wage utilization. Consider that a typical at need service requires about forty (40) hours of staff time. Of this total less than ten (10) hours are required to be licensed time. Care must be taken to assure many of the ancillary, non-licensed duties do not involve an inordinate amount of a director’s time.

Increasing staff utilization doesn’t mean working harder…just smarter. A LFD earns premium earnings for applying his/her skills and experience arranging, directing and embalming. Therefore providing structure and support to minimize their time with non-licensed duties must be continually addressed. Accomplishing this is not a matter of directive, but in fact a defined staffing approach and structure. Elements of this include:

Director of Operations (DFSO) – Someone designated to oversee, coordinate and assign new at need cases…not leaving it for a collegial staff discussion. The DFSO also determines the staffing coverage for services, including the assigning of non-licensed part timers for ancillary support duties. This frees directors for the next licensed obligation.

A Pool of Part Time Associates – Using the medical term “PRN;” (use as needed) these are individuals, notified today, for a service need tomorrow. This PRN pool should contain about three (3) to four (4) people per every 100 annual funeral home cases.

About this Pool

They must be recruited, sought out, don’t wait for them to show up at your door.
There are usually three (3) categories of PRN’s:

Visitation Associates – greeters at visitation.

Funeral Service Associates – perform all the ancillary, non-licensed tasks of a LFD.

Transfer staff – physically qualified for first call duties.

They must be trained in your methods and practices (Use of a job description as a training guide makes orientation and training easy and effective.)
Compensation can be an hourly rate, perhaps with a 3 hour minimum or a flat fee. Often they are paid a small stipend to be on call for night transfer duty.
The pool will have turnover, do not let that deter you. Keep focus on maintaining a full complement of part time associates. Consider maintaining a pool of three (3) people per 100 annual calls.

If a LFD can be supported to increase his/her license utilization from 65% to 80% that will mean handling 20 more at need cases per year. (Ninety (90) percent plus utilization should be the goal and is comfortably attainable.) Implementing a PRN pool to support two (2) or three (3) LFD’s can easily mean not hiring another LFD.

A large client of mine, realized this advantage years ago. By increasing their part time staff over a 3 year period, and through attrition reduced their licensed staff more than 60%. Included with the new staff model, their previous sixty (60) hour workweek schedule was reduced to just over forty (40) hours, with no decrease in compensation to staff associates.

In states that allow non-licensed transfers the benefit for the firm and LFD is even greater. Firms create a pool of two (2) to three (3) part time non-licensed individuals. (Trauma experienced first responders are excellent candidates.) The LFD on call coordinates the night transfer from a “bedside – station.”

Bottom Line – To increase your bottom line, don’t burden yourself with misdirecting the use of a licensed associate.

David Tudor is President of The Directions Group, Asheville, NC.

David’s counsel has benefited funeral homes nation-wide for over four (4) decades.

thetudors@charter.net

Check Their Math! How The Herd Instinct Works In Funeral Service

Written by Alan Creedy on July 27, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Money: Getting it and Keeping it. 10 Comments on Check Their Math! How The Herd Instinct Works In Funeral Service

WARNING! This is not about caskets!

A couple of decades ago I was visiting with 3 funeral home owner friends. They were discussing among themselves that the expensive makeovers of their selection rooms, popular at the time, were not working as advertised. Having heard nothing but glorious praise about these “retail” style showrooms I was taken aback by their private comments among themselves. Even more curious was the response when I asked them why it was that such a widely praised concept wasn’t working for them. In unison they said:

“It doesn’t work for anybody…they just don’t look at the numbers.”

“Well, then, why does everyone say it does,” I asked.

“Alan, if you had just spent $50,000 on something you would tell everyone it worked too.” They chimed, again in unison.

I have never completely recovered from that conversation. And, by the way, my answer to them was: “The heck I wouldn’t…I’d take out an ad.”

In more recent years I have seen several vendors become somewhat dependent on this phenomenon.

A pre need marketer consistently sells significantly below their client’s At Need average creating a future shortfall of unprecedented proportions…even when they publish their own statistics! Because they have so many clients and so many of them are highly respected no one dares to do the math. Could you survive on an average sale (with cash advances) below $3,700?
A pre need insurance company carefully states a growth factor in such a way that client’s are led to believe they are getting more than they actually are.
A consulting company provides analytics and training that most of their clients never use other than for bragging rights. The work they do is excellent but produce very few results.
An advertising specialty company sells a preneed lead generator that drives leads but the leads (while many) are poor and are unaffordable.
Casket companies offer discounts that aren’t discounts at all. They also lock you into long term contracts with the intention of raising prices. You will know prices are up but you won’t realize you are paying much more than you expected.

So, the formula is: Get industry leaders excited, make a lot of noise and no one will actually DO THE MATH!

I am not sure that this really is an anomaly. Seems to me this is symptomatic of our whole society.

Adolph Hitler made this a core part of his strategy. He said: “Tell a big enough lie and tell it often enough and people will believe it.”

I prefer to remind myself that many of the people who watch wrestling on TV believe it is real. It is, however, discouraging to realize they all vote.

Here are some rules to live by:

Your colleagues do sometimes exaggerate
Never believe everything people say at conventions
- If you like something you hear spend the money to go see their operation
  - you will be surprised to find that most of what people tell you they are doing is really only stuff they wish they could do if their staff would cooperate
  - and if it is, in fact, real then you will recoup your investment with some real learning.
Do the math:
- Figure out the average sale
- Make them work out an example in front of you
- Know what your operating ratios should be
  - all operating ratios for funeral service are calculated on NET sales
    - net sales are gross sales NET Of cash advances
Quit Drinking Downstream from the herd
Try thinking for yourself. It will often give you a headache but rarely the pain in the rear end the alternative yields.

Sorry for the cynicism. But somebody’s gotta say something.

Lest You Misunderstand

Written by Alan Creedy on June 29, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Money: Getting it and Keeping it. 5 Comments on Lest You Misunderstand

Last week’s post was about casket discounting. I just want to make myself clear.

I still meet people who believe their salvation is in the selection room. They even have incorporated their arrangement rooms inside their showrooms. (What kind of message does that send??)

What I want my readers to know is that I resent the game playing on any one’s part. But I also do not believe a merchandise manufacturer (whether urn or casket or vault) can have an answer for us.

If there is an answer it lies in the proper execution of a life honoring service tailored to the individual and their circle of relationships.

Preoccupation with casket pricing and casket merchandising is a distraction of the greatest magnitude in our times.

Oh, and I am flat against letting your vendors have long term contracts. Our world is too fluid for that and, besides, I can see how it is to their advantage but not yours. I guess I might change my mind if, instead of giving you a “free” showroom, they helped you get rid of your showroom and maybe gave you a “free” out door party patio to showcase your celebrations.

The Curse of the 25% Casket Wholesale Discount

Written by Alan Creedy on June 23, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Money: Getting it and Keeping it. 9 Comments on The Curse of the 259 Casket Wholesale Discount

So, it’s not my hunt…not even my dog; but I just hate being played.

A few weeks ago I was working with a client in the Midwest:

50 to 60 calls

30 – 35 caskets sold a year

He was so proud of himself. He had just negotiated a 25% discount from one of the big 3 but not Batesville.

Besides being annoyed that he had no idea how the 25% related to full price I had to leave the room just to bang my head against the wall. Sometimes external pain can temporarily relieve angst.

Isn’t anybody else wondering…or is it just me…if a guy who sells 30 – 35 caskets a year is getting a 25% discount and everyone else (large and small) is getting a 25% discount who the heck is paying full wholesale?

is the net price after the 25% discount really the new full wholesale?

Just sayin’

You Don’t Need Another Licensee

Written by Alan Creedy on May 27, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership, Money: Getting it and Keeping it. 4 Comments on You Don’t Need Another Licensee

Lessons From Radar O’Reilly

Some years ago there was a nationwide nursing shortage. Then some very wise doctor’s and hospitals realized that there really wasn’t a shortage…there was a problem. Too many nursing duties were non – nursing tasks. Things like paperwork, bathing patients, cleaning rooms etc. Doctors and hospitals were using nurses as glorified clericals. Even with this awareness things didn’t change much. Except in a few medical institutions.

What did they find? When they augmented their nursing staff with support staff to do non nursing activities patient care improved; they only needed 1/3 as many nurses; they were able to cut costs; increase pay and improve the work environment for the remaining nurses. Patients were happier, nurses were happier and so were administrators.

The average case load in America for Licensed Funeral Directors is somewhere in and around 85. Why can’t it be 125? What are your funeral directors doing that are really non funeral director duties?

If I were you I would want a Radar O’Reilly on my support team. Radar, as some of you will remember, was the colonel’s assistant in the long – running tv show MASH. What qualities did he have that we should want?

Commitment and focus on support. Working ahead of the breaking wave, being proactive and ANTICIPATING needs before they were needed
Exceptional task and time management
- Disciplined focus
- Continued awareness of time and task and especially vision (Why am I here?)
- Distinguish between the ‘important but not urgent” and the “urgent but not important”
Keen Intuition. The ability to read the Colonel’s mind as well as others and respond in the moment
Strong listening skills. Able to listen with an open mind
Organized
Strong interpersonal skills and relationship management. Ability to get things done through and with people
Technologically capable. Know how to optimize technology for efficiency
Sense of humor
High energy
Confident enough to work independently
Able to execute projects and communicate with others effectively
High in emotional intelligence and self management
Resourceful problem solvers
Efficient multi tasker
Thrives on change but honors the need for stability and completion

Licensees don’t need to work harder…just smarter.

Families Aren’t Your Typical Consumer

Written by Alan Creedy on May 4, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 5 Comments on Families Aren’t Your Typical Consumer

Many consider the advent of the Internet to have ushered in the “Age Of The Consumer.” The balance of power (inherently favoring the holder of information) has clearly shifted in a way that at least provides parity between vendor and customer. In the case of those unfortunate products and services which are considered commodities, the balance has shifted beyond parity to the consumer. DeathCare, with its preference for the conventional, is quickly moving toward becoming a commodity.

Seeing this trend, many in DeathCare are becoming convinced that the best strategy is to focus on price. Worse, since many practitioners can’t seem to give up their prideful need to provide higher levels of service, some are chasing the dual and suicidal strategy of price AND service. But what if treating families as the typical proactive, in control and well informed consumer could backfire… on them as well as you?

Most practitioners are really order takers. They ask families what they want and often simply deliver it to them. Even when they know it won’t meet their needs. A few brave souls in recent years have actually learned how they can differentiate themselves by bringing more VALUE by being more assertive in the arrangement conference. In other words, by being true professionals and taking a risk (which, it turns out, is minimal) by guiding families based on the provider’s expertise.

Taking orders and refusing to challenge families is wrong on at least two levels: 1) You are assuming they really have researched what they need emotionally and what they can afford economically. 2) You fail to offer a professional perspective relative to their needs and provide options they might consider.

I have come to believe that the single greatest fallacy practitioners maintain in their thinking is the belief that families actually like them and they have more to lose by challenging them than they have to gain.

I think the following three points are closer to the truth:

1) Families don’t want to be there: They are there because they have to be there. They have a dead body and are experiencing a variety of emotions. They want the issues (all of them) resolved and their lives returned to normal.

2) Families are not equipped to be there: How many times do people make funeral arrangements in their lifetime? Even though much information can be gleaned from the internet it is mostly technical in nature and they don’t have the tools nor do they have the specialized expertise to properly absorb the information our system asks them to absorb.

3) There are usually multiple persons involved: We forget that the process is complex and that most people in this setting are not independent decision makers. Automatically that means there are multiple perspectives to address, coalesce and focus. That takes a skill for which most practitioners have no training. Hence, it is safer to say nothing.

The solution is to avoid treating families as consumers. Think, instead, of how we can provide easy and simple tools with which they can understand and then act on the real needs they have. For example: The Mayo Clinic faced a similar challenge in its treatment of diabetes patients. It created a set of “Decision Cards” that reduced technical information to easy – to – understand graphics and very plain language so that patients could be informed about the risks, side effects and other items pertinent to their choice of treatment.

We effectively “Burden” the family with their final decision (regrets and all). Instead, families and practitioners should work together to find the right service for them. We need a mechanism for discussion around trade -offs to find the best course for everyone. Services need to be practical as well as affordable.

When we choose to assume a passive role we are treating our customers as consumers and making assumptions that we know are not generally true with today’s families. When we choose to become a professional expert we take an active role guiding people through the choices and trade – offs necessary to provide a meaningful and affordable tribute…even if it doesn’t include a casket.

Ragman: An Allegory of Death and Resurrection

Written by Alan Creedy on April 2, 2015. Posted in The Creedy Commentary, General Topics. 3 Comments on Ragman: An Allegory of Death and Resurrection

As we prepare to celebrate Easter author Walter Wangerin, Jr. offers us a poignant allegory of Christ’s glorious work for us on the cross.

Ragman I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing in my life, my street sense, my sly tongue had ever prepared me for. Hush child. Hush, now, and I will tell it to you. Even before the dawn on Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our city. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear tenor voice: “Rags!” Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music. “Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!”

“Now this is a wonder,” I thought to myself, for the man stood six feet four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn’t disappointed. Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys, and pampers. “Give me your rag, “ he said so gently, “and I will give you another.” He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver. Then as he began to pull the cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then he began to weep, to sob as grieviously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear.

“This is a wonder,” I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery. “Rags! Rags! New rags for old!” In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek. Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. “Give me your rag,” he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, “and I will give you mine.” The child could only gaze at him while he loosened her bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood—his own! “Rags! Rags! I take old rags!” cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman.

The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry. “Are you going to work?” he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head. The Ragman pressed him: “Do you have a job?” “Are you crazy?” Sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket—flat, the cuff stuffed in his pocket. He had no arm. “So,” said the Ragman, “Give me your jacket, and I’ll give you mine.” Such quiet authority in his voice! The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman—and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman’s arm stayed in his sleeve and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one. “Go to work,” he said.

After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes. And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider’s legs he skittered through the alleys of the city, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.

I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such a haste, perhaps to know what drove him so. The little old Ragman—he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died.

Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope—because I had to come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep. I did not know—how could I know?—that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.

But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence. Light—pure, hard, demanding light—slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And , besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness. Well, then I lowered my head and, trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: “Dress me.” He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, The Ragman, The Christ! From: “The Ragman and Other Cries of Faith” By Walter Wangerin, Jr.

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To God Be the Glory!!!