Burke, you’re welcome to comment here just as anyone is. But you’re not welcome to ride your hobby horse so hard you wear a groove in our floor. You’ve had your say to the point of tedium, so I’m closing the comments here. Notice I’m not deleting your comments, so no cries of “censorship,” please. Here’s the bottomline: 1. The chart shows general trends, and illustrates one reason why funeral prices tend to be higher when there are too many rooftops. It’s not the be all and end all to the analysis, and we never pretended it was. But it’s a good starting point in a very general sense to understand the relationship between oversupply and high prices. 2. Even if you’re right, Burke, that many of these rooftops are owned by the same entity, that does not invalidate the chart. Extra rooftops cost money to operate, too. A funeral home owner with three branch facilities that lay idle much of the time is still paying taxes, heating, maintenance, not to mention the initial building/acquisition costs. This kind of inefficiency contributes to higher funeral prices, too. And by the way, I’m not just going to take your word for it that you’ve determined the ratio of owners-to-rooftops. You need to show your data. We’ve cited the source for ours. 3. It’s obvious – just as indisputable as the fact that the sun rises every morning – that funeral directors can only sell one funeral to a customer. Why this is so difficult for you to grasp, Burke, is a mystery. Sure, the same families often come back to the same funeral home for multiple deaths, but it’s still only one funeral to a body. A family of six will only ever buy six funerals from you. If you’ve still got a bee in your bonnet over this, you can certainly email me. But I’m not likely to spend much time responding unless you come up with some new data or an actual rebuttal. Leaving aside the snide tone of voice helps, too. Cheers, Josh Slocum Executive Director
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