Recently the splendid Hungarian government has introduced another splendid innovation on the field of social security: the so called “social burial” for the poor.

The problem to be solved was that there were too many people that could not afford the costs of a funeral for their relatives anymore.

The principle of the “social burial” is simple, yet genius: participation and education.

First of all the cemeteries allocate a clearly defined plot for the graves of the poor. Not necessarily in the shade, no panorama for the ones mourning, but hey, the key words here are social and poor, right?

For educational purposes this is of great help for parents with difficult kids. They can take the children to the cemetery’s “poor men’s corner” telling them “See this, do you want to get a sunstroke whilst visiting my grave when I’m dead? No? Then pull yourself together at school!” Marvellous, motivating, magic.

Now, participation. The state pays for the grave, the coffin and the tombstone.

You dig the hole, wash the corps, place it into the coffin, lower the coffin into the grave, burry the grave and it’s done.

How carrying is this! The government provides the poor even with some physical activity. And we all know that the poor are quite poor in doing exercise, aren’t they? We don’t see the poor on the golf course or on the slopes too often, don’t we?

So, the state saves money, the poor get fitter. Which then saves money in the health system. Double whopper!

Now, “social burial” is great but not perfect.

An idea: regular pig slaughtering in Hungary is part of the folklore and national identity. So, almost every household has some equipment that can be used in this noble exercise.

So, grandpa decides to parish and you invite all the relatives and friends to the feast, everybody is asked to bring some equipment so everybody can truly participate. Some cutting here, some grinding there, “Sanyi, you can put the sausages into the smoker now!”, and we are done.

It also solves the problem of the funeral meal. It is costly and anyway, what to serve to the guests?

Now, close your eyes, imagine and guess.

Happy funeral and bon appetite!