The End

Life doesn't always go on. Many of us don't like thinking about that, to the point that we even avoid mentioning death directly, preferring euphemisms like “passed away”, “kicked the bucket”, or “went to the undying land.” Buddhists, on the other hand, seem to think about death a lot. This is so that when it does come, they won't be flustered and spend their last moments wringing their hands instead of waving goodbye. The Buddhist practice of meditating on death is sort of similar to what Inspector Clouseau was doing by having Kato jump him at unexpected times, so that he would be prepared when a real assassin attacked. And just like Kato, death can come charging when you're about to kiss Maria Gambrelli by the fountain. It can accompany the Japanese waitress as she brings you a fortune cookie. It can swoop down from the chandelier, or sneak up on you as you're fumbling around in your leopard-skin bed, bubbles and Come to Me swirling through the air. It can strike as you're starting up the car after a morning spent Christmas shopping, leaving others bewildered at so many things, including the intended recipients of the contents of all the bags and boxes in the back of the car.

If you don't want to think about death too much, the next best thing is to eat, drink and be merry, for when death knocks at the door tomorrow (or, if it's running late, barges in) at least you won't leave this world feeling like a dissatisfied customer. You won't whine and try and get your money back from the being ferrying you across the waters. Their job is probably stressful enough, what with passengers soon to realize they've been Eric the Redded: they're not going to greener, undying pastures, but to a land of icy death.

Understandably, death usually brings sadness. It doesn't really have a good sense of humour. Not someone I would want to spend a lot of time with. But one day I won't have a choice in the matter. So I want something comical to mark my ending, like the parking meter with “Time expired” on it that some nephew got for his aunt's grave. To make it easier for me, and others, to laugh in the face of death.