ColdChef in the time of COVID

December 26, 2020 3:22 PM

MeFi's Own ColdChef is featured in a story in the Guardian: 'Humans need the ritual of saying goodbye': the Covid life of a small-town funeral director

Because he was raised in a funeral home, Charlet knows how to prepare for the worst. He was taught at a young age to fill up the gas tank on the hearse before the local high school prom, in case there were deaths resulting from drunk-driving accidents.

But even Charlet wasn’t prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic. “The first couple of months, it was really scary because there wasn’t a lot of guidance on what we were supposed to do,” he said. A short supply of body bags meant some bodies had to be wrapped in sheets.

That worried Charlet because he was unsure about the risk of catching Covid-19 from a dead body. Charlet and other members of the staff went above and beyond to try to protect themselves by wearing surgical gowns everywhere they went. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since said that the risk of being infected from a dead body is low, because they do not exhale.

posted by Johnny Wallflower to MetaFilter-Related at 3:22 PM (12 comments total)

Look at that handsome SOB! That’s our undertaker!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:39 PM on December 26, 2020 [4 favorites]

Our own Coldchef
posted by octothorpe at 4:16 PM on December 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hey Chef. Nice article. my God family owns(ed) a monument business which I worked at for a while. I remember making money placing flags on the cars, sandblasting, etc.so ya, the business has changed but the caring and respect Chef brings is refreshing.
posted by clavdivs at 5:09 PM on December 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

I’m a facilitator for a workshop that teaches among other things, empathy and compassion. I think I could do a whole day just studying Cold Chef’s twitter. So much kindness in there too.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 6:07 PM on December 26, 2020 [8 favorites]

I saw the headline on my wife's laptop from across the room, and I had to go check the story to see if it was Louisiana. And then come here to confirm it was ColdChef.
posted by serathen at 6:43 PM on December 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

Small town, but big man. Cold Chef has always been helpful for us.
posted by Cranberry at 12:55 AM on December 27, 2020 [7 favorites]

I read that story on my own, thought "God, what a great guy..." and now come to find this. What a world. My sliver of faith in humanity is enlarged.
posted by y2karl at 7:25 AM on December 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

Small town, but big man. Cold Chef has always been helpful for us.

I hear he's the last guy who's going to let you down.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:54 PM on December 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

I hear he's the last guy who's going to let you down.

I have a sticker of him on the rear bumper of my car, looking all somber and if you peer in close it just says "I will bury you"
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 9:28 AM on December 28, 2020 [12 favorites]

I have a sticker of him on the rear bumper of my car, looking all somber and if you peer in close it just says "I will bury you"

I received an envelope through the post with one of those on the front*, courtesy of MeFi card swap. I don't know ColdChef IRL and didn't know he was a member of the card swap, so it was an unnerving moment until I opened it and was delighted.

*in fact it might have been sans picture, just the words, for maximum chillingness.
posted by penguin pie at 2:02 PM on December 28, 2020 [2 favorites]

I received an envelope through the post with one of those on the front*, courtesy of MeFi card swap. I don't know ColdChef IRL and didn't know he was a member of the card swap, so it was an unnerving moment

This story is the highlight of my week so far.
posted by ColdChef at 10:49 AM on December 29, 2020 [7 favorites]

This is the best thing! What a wonderful face!
posted by Oyéah at 4:32 PM on December 29, 2020