"Falling cemetery headstone kills toddler in Texas"

From the very brief article here:

"A 4-year-old boy died when he was visiting the a (sic) Texas cemetery with his family and a nearly 100-year-old headstone fell over and struck him in the head, authorities said."

How much you wanna bet his "parents" were letting him use some elegant old gravestone sculpture as monkey bars and he wrecked the damn thing?

I just read this and was wondering at what age is a kid no longer considered a toadler??

Anyway someone on the comment section said that some graveyards need signs telling breeders to keep kiddies off the stones. I wonder if the stone was HUGE. There is a graveyard near where we live that has an obelisk that has to be 60 feet high.

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kittehpeoples
How much you wanna bet his "parents" were letting him use some elegant old gravestone sculpture as monkey bars and he wrecked the damn thing?

Wouldn't surprise me.

I use cemetery sources quite extensively in my genealogy research. At one time, cemeteries were used as social venues; people took picnic baskets to those places, visiting the graves of relatives and gathering with families. Since the monuments have survived from that time, I'm thinking that the children of that generation were told to treat them with respect. Too bad that admonition hasn't survived.

Researchers are told to not disturb old gravestones. It's tempting to want to take a brush or cloth to clean away the dirt and moss, better revealing the information, but if you aren't trained in how to handle those precious relics, they could be damaged and of little use to future family historians. And here a family likely allowed their kid to climb on them. I guess it's futile to wonder if the damaged stone will be repaired or replaced by the family?

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cfdavep
I just read this and was wondering at what age is a kid no longer considered a toadler??

Good question, considering how BFing and co-sleeping are apparently appropriate for nearly-pubescent kids these days...

Even though many 100-year-old gravestones are at skewed angles (thanks to erosion, frost, toddlers, etc.), I'm fairly damn certain it didn't just happen to topple over right when Pwecious just happened to be waddling by. He was swinging from it, making "happy sounds" (aka "shrieking like an air raid siren") when gravity/reality kicked in. I'd bet my redheaded soul on it, if that weren't a total contradiction in terms.

Remember last year when this same thing happened with a statue, and it smelled of a PNA, and someone here posted simply "But was the statue OK?"

Chances that the century-old headstone just happened to topple while the kid was walking by: one in eleventy frillion.
Chances that the four-year-old was climbing, playing, leaning, or otherwise messing with it before it stove in his head: damn certain.

Four year olds are hyperactive, handsy, and incapable of remaining still. Which is why you keep them the fuck away from dangerous and/or delicate stuff. Like old tombstones.

And why the FUCK are they describing a four-year-old as a "toddler"? That's a small kid, or a preschooler, or a child. Stop rounding down, media! One reason kids are getting less responsible and socially skilled is because people see them as not capable of it because kids younger than six are portrayed as toddlers, toddlers are called "babies", and anyone under eighteen is still treated like they're eight! GAH!

Does it make me an awful person that I snickered when I saw this story?

Yes, I think it does, and I'm ok with that.

Darwinism at it's finest.

~~~~~~~~~~~
I miss my little feather baby.

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night owl
Remember last year when this same thing happened with a statue, and it smelled of a PNA, and someone here posted simply "But was the statue OK?"

Cassia: " But is the delicate and valuable cementary headstone OK ?"

I think I know what cemetary that is - nearly half of it is filled with generations of my family if it's the one I'm thinking of.

Found this in the comments:

brenda m 5 hours ago 0 11
I was reading posts on an Odessa news site.....a gentleman that witnessed it posted a comment....according to him., .there were three 3 children climbing up on headstones and jumping off in plain view of several adults that saw & ignored.......ignored until a large headstone toppled over on top of one of the children..... apparently the kids were not within an arm's reach of the parents and were using the resting place of loved ones as a playground unchecked.....

I did not see what happen, was not there....am just repeating what a person that was apparently in the cemetery said he witnessed.....read the Odessa news stories.....they at least have info.....

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drake
Does it make me an awful person that I snickered when I saw this story?

Yes, I think it does, and I'm ok with that.

Darwinism at it's finest.

I did too

And I pictured that one 'story' in the Stephen King film Creepshow where the tomb stone falls on the guy. Including a "whooomph!" sound and all!

For the cemetery fans and researchers - I live not too far from this place -

http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/waldheim/31freesons.html

It's a place full of dangerous old things, it's pretty creepy. You rarely see anyone in there, either.

I could picture something falling on you w/ included whooomph! sound in this place.

creepee ~

I was looking around to find that woman's comment and couldn't. But, I saw a mention that it was a 5-foot high tombstone and that the child was playing on it when it fell over and hit him in the head. Not a big surprise, obviously.

Don't feel bad, I giggled too. Then I started feeling thankful that is one less addition to the gene pool.

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drake
Does it make me an awful person that I snickered when I saw this story?

Yes, I think it does, and I'm ok with that.

Darwinism at it's finest.

I don't know if it makes you an awful person, but if it does, make room for me. I laughed at it too. I'd laugh even more if the headstone happened to belong to a crotchety old man or woman of the "you kids get off my lawn" variety.

And why am I not surprised that the thing crushed a brat because said brat was not only scaling and swan-diving off it, but was completely unsupervised? I'd like to think that this might be a warning tale to other breeders to keep the bastards off tombstones, but you know it won't be. I'd bet the "grieving" famblee of the "precocious" child will sue the people in charge of the graveyard and/or the family of whoever's stone that was. The diligent breeders sure as fuck won't be ponying up to repair/replace the stone that I have to assume was damaged or broken by the brats.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I never thought that, in my lifetime, people would ever need to be told to not let their brats play on tombstones. That person silence quoted from the comments claims there were three kids doing this shit, so I hope at least the other two and their sad excuses for parents learn something from this. I'm not holding my breath, but I can dream.

So the $64,000 question is: Will this kid be buried in that same cemetery?

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Zzelda

I did too

And I pictured that one 'story' in the Stephen King film Creepshow where the tomb stone falls on the guy. Including a "whooomph!" sound and all!

For the cemetery fans and researchers - I live not too far from this place -

http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/waldheim/31freesons.html

It's a place full of dangerous old things, it's pretty creepy. You rarely see anyone in there, either.

I could picture something falling on you w/ included whooomph! sound in this place.

creepee ~

WHOOMP THERE IT IS!

:GOMIIMOG :partay

_______________________________________________
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

Oh the delicious irony if it was the headstone of the crotchety old man whining about the kids on his lawn. What gets me is that they completely gloss over the fact that it's a grave that these brats are desecrating. Yes, it's a century old, but that doesn't mean the person in it doesn't have some relatives.

So not only will as someone said, not have the responsible Moo paying for its repair, but the relations will have to put through some ridiculous crime scene investigation, and possibly sued due to it, just because some untrained : decided to use it as their own playground, and got themselves killed in the process.

You know what's going to happen now because of this, now every cemetery is going to restrict actual mourner's movements, just because some dumb brat removed themselves from the gene pool .

I enjoy walking around old cemetaries looking at the monuments and unsurprisingly, none have fallen on me, largely because I don't touch them, let alone swing from them. Some have fallen over, but I imagine - if they weren't knocked over by people - that they gradually weathered into near falling position and it took rain softening the earth or a good wind storm to ultimately topple them.

I don't see why anyone under 10 needs to be in a cemetary, unless they're being put in the ground.

This story is hilarious! Either this was a PNA with a sprinkling of gothic flavor, or mombie and duddeh were too stupid to realize a cemetery is maybe not the right place to bring a shrieking bratwurst and got what they deserved. Or maybe the place is just haunted, with a restless childfree ghost flitting around knocking kyds over with the help of toppling tombstones?

I also enjoy walking around cemeteries, Pere-Lachaise in Paris is my favorite.

Oh yes, kyds nowadays are still bebehs aged 10, I am reminded of this every time I go to my dance classes, they have kyds' classes earlier in the day so the place is overrun by hordes of trampling chyldrun. I still fail to understand how a group of 6-10 year old girls managed to destroy the bathroom in their changing room. But hey, it's okay because they are 'just chyldrun'.

This reminds me of something odd about some moos and how they can be weird about death. Hurricane Sandy hit a while back in Connecticut where MIL's other son lives with his wife and four screamers in the burbs. There was a news article on the net of a tree being uprooted with a skeleton attached to it. I thought it was in his neighborhood and told her about the article. She decided not to believe me that a skeleton was pulled up with the tree. I guess that was too gothic a thing for "sweet families" to have to imagine under their houses.

We were visiting the inlaws a couple of days ago and found out that a guy that hubby went to school with is a 40 something raging alcoholic. The parents died and he was living in the house drinking, being into Satanism, and hanging "shrunken heads" on the patio, until his siblings had him forcibly removed from the house, so they could sell it. The guy must've lost his mind, I agree with that. In-laws put up with this right up until crazy dude hangs a cross outside with a realistic baby doll nailed to it. It was this that finally drove MIL over the edge and she went over to his place and whaled on him, screaming that the kids in the neighborhood might see it. I guess the shrunken heads were still ok until it involved a fake baybee. I never thought I would hear of someone like that in a "nice" burb.

If the little monkey's can't be controlled, or if the breeders can't look after them they have no business being in the graveyard.

By letting their howler monkey's run around like that it shows a complete lack of respect, not only by the kyds, but by the parents as well. The parents should know better being raised in a generation where you were taught to respect the dead and that being in a graveyard you keep quiet tiptoeing around the graves of the deceased.

Looking at the comments there was one who said

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Whatever happened or didn't happen, a little boy is dead and a mother lost a child right before mother's day. It's always so easy for people to chime in and say what they think should've happened or how they would never let happen with their children but accidents still happen and will happen no matter how much you think you can avoid them. Do not chastise the parents in this situation. Instead offer your thoughts and prayers to a family who has experienced great loss.

Yeah.... eyes2 I don't think so. It was the parunts fault the brat was killed. Shouldn't have let their kids play on /desecrate the grave in the first place. No sympathy here.

Uncle Chuck strikes again! Serves him right for acting like a monkey. What kind of senseless shit-for-brains lets their spawn climb on headstones?! I guess breeders only understand 'respect' if it directly applies to themselves. down

And hell yeah, I laughed at this. I just wish headstones still sported that Latin inscription: Tu Fui Ego Eris (I was you, you will be me), 'cause it'd be so appropriate.

Oh, and how is a 4-year-old a toddler? That's a child as far as I'm concerned. Well, was a child.

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
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I find it especially disgusting when people behave inappropriately in a place like cemetery.
Dead people cannot defend themselves.
Or maybe they can....

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mrs. chinaski
I find it especially disgusting when people behave inappropriately in a place like cemetery.
Dead people cannot defend themselves.
Or maybe they can....

I laughed when I read this too.

I thought that it's possible he pissed off the dead person so they toppled the stone onto his head. "This'll teach you to dance on my grave, you little scallywag!"

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cfchevygirl
I was looking around to find that woman's comment and couldn't. But, I saw a mention that it was a 5-foot high tombstone and that the child was playing on it when it fell over and hit him in the head. Not a big surprise, obviously.

And I bet Moo and Duh thought the dumpling wrecking a historical monument was oh-so-adowwable!

Either that or they were glued to their iPhones and not paying the slightest bit of attention until it was too late. That seemed to be the two varieties that breeders come in these days.

This article indeed mentions that Loafley was playing on the grave.

Sing it with me: It's the CIIIIIIIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIIFE...

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rudeawakening
This article indeed mentions that Loafley was playing on the grave.

Sing it with me: It's the CIIIIIIIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIIFE...

No excuses then!

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the Driver family were at the cemetery to pay respects to someone while the four-year-old played at a nearby gravesite.

So they went to visit the grave of somebody they knew and they ALLOWED bratleigh to desecrate random graves in the vicinity. Zero sympathy.