#89 What is like to work in a funeral parlor in China? 在中国的殡仪馆上班是怎么样的体验？

大家好！欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！

今天，我想和大家聊一聊一个特殊的工作，这就是在殡仪馆的工作。殡仪馆，也就是人去世了以后去的地方。

在中国，人们很少说起死亡，也很害怕说起死亡。因为数字“四”和“死”听起来很像，所以人们也不喜欢“四”这个数字。比如，四号，十四号，二十四号……有这些号码的房子很难卖出去。四楼，十四楼的公寓也比较便宜，因为很少人愿意买。我们可以说，死亡，对于中国人来说是一个禁忌的话题。禁忌，也就是人们不愿意说，也不敢说的东西。因为这样，如果你在殡仪馆工作，你可能很难找到朋友，也很难找到另一半。在殡仪馆工作是怎么样的体验呢？会被歧视吗？能被理解吗？一些殡仪馆工作人员在网络上分享了他们的经历，我们今天一起来听一听他们的故事吧。

一个网名叫“阿昌哥”的男生，说他1995年出生，以前殡仪馆做过火化的工作。火化，意思是把东西放进火里烧。阿昌哥平时的工作，就是把尸体火化。说起他的工作，他是这样说的：“在殡仪馆工作久了，对死亡就没什么特别的感觉了。工作不是特别累，但是工作的环境不太好，尤其是夏天的时候，火化尸体实在是太热了！ 找女朋友也特别难。我的家人给我介绍了很多女孩子，可是很多人听到我在殡仪馆工作，连和我握手都不愿意了。后来，我的父母实在是太担心了，我也没有继续这份工作。”

听起来，阿昌哥因为这份工作遇到了很多歧视，比如，很多人不愿意和他握手，可能是因为觉得他常常和尸体在一起，很脏。但是，也有热爱这份工作的人。一位女生分享了她的看法：“在殡仪馆工作的这段时间 我并没有因为见多了死亡就变得麻木。无数个瞬间，在子女扶着棺材想再看父亲一眼的时候，在妻子亲吻死去丈夫额头的时候，在母亲为了儿子哭了三个小时的时候，我都想落泪。我们每一个人，都是子、是女，是夫、是妻，是父、是母。我们绝大部分人都只是过着默默无闻的一生。平凡，渺小。但在家人眼中 我们既像山海一般可靠，也像珍珠一般宝贵。”

女生说，她没有因为见多了死亡就变得麻木。“麻木”，意思是对一个事情没有感觉了。 “对死亡麻木”，意思是对死亡没有特别的感觉了，不难过，也不害怕了。她说，我们每个人都过着默默无闻的一生。“默默无闻”，意思是很平凡，不出名。因为我们都是普通人，所以我们的一生都是默默无闻的一生。但是，对于家人来说，我们都非常可靠，就像大山和大海一样。我们也非常宝贵，就像珍珠一样。

在我看来，所有的工作都值得尊敬。在殡仪馆工作的人们，努力地让每一个人有尊严地离开这个世界，他们应该被理解，也应该被尊敬。你对这样的工作有什么看法呢？欢迎在评论分享你的想法！

Hello everyone! Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!

Today, I would like to talk about a special job, which is the job in a funeral home. A funeral home is where a person goes after he dies.

In China, people rarely talk about death, and they are very afraid to talk about it. Because the numbers "four" and "die" sound alike, people also don't like the number "four". For example, houses with number four, number fourteen, number twenty-four, etc., are hard to sell. Apartments on the fourth and fourteenth floors are also cheaper because few people are willing to buy them. We can say that death is a taboo topic for Chinese people. Taboos are things that people don't want to and don't dare to talk about. Because of this, if you work in a funeral home, you may have a hard time finding friends and finding a partner. What is it like to work in a funeral home? Will they be discriminated against? Can they be understood? Some funeral home workers shared their experiences online and let's listen to their stories today.

A young man whose Internet username is "Achang Ge" said that he was born in 1995 and used to be a cremation worker in a funeral home. Cremation means putting something into a fire to burn. Achang Ge’s usual job is to cremate the body. Speaking of his work, he said, "After working in a funeral home for a long time, I have no special feeling about death. The work is not particularly tiring, but the working environment is not very good, especially in the summer, cremation of the body is really difficult. It's too hot! It's also very difficult to find a girlfriend. My family introduced me to many girls, but many people didn't even want to shake my hand when they heard that I was working in a funeral home. Later, my parents were too worried, so I didn't continue this job."

It sounds that Achang Ge suffered a lot of discrimination because of this job. For example, many people were reluctant to shake hands with him, probably because they feel that he often stayed with corpses and was very dirty. However, there are also people who love the job. A young lady shared her opinion, "During my work in the funeral home, I did not become ruthless because I saw too many deaths. In countless moments, when the children held the coffin and wanted to take another look at the father, when the wife kissed her dead husband's forehead, when the mother cried for her son for three hours, I wanted to cry too. Every one of us is a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother. Most of us just live a life of obscurity. Ordinary, small. But in the eyes of our family, we are as reliable as mountains and seas, and as precious as pearls.”

The young lady said that she did not become ruthless because she saw too many deaths. To be "ruthless(numb)" means to have no feeling for something. "To be numb to death" means that there is no special feeling about death, and there is no more sadness or fear. Each of us lives a life of obscurity, she said. "默默无闻" means very ordinary, not famous. Because we are all ordinary people, our whole life is a life of obscurity. However, for our family, we are all very reliable, just like the mountains and the sea. We are also very precious, like pearls.

In my opinion, all work is worthy of respect. People who work in funeral homes work hard to let everyone leave this world with dignity, they should be understood and they should be respected. What do you think about this kind of work? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!