Roadside Shrines

So, okay, what exactly is the point of those crosses and other paraphernalia that people put up by the side of the road when a loved one has died in a traffic accident? I don't get it.

Is it supposed to remind us to drive safely? yeah...cruisin' down the road, oh look, what's that?, wha...?, it's a cross, and some flowers, wonder what that's doing th...AAAAHHHHHH!!!! LOOK OUT FOR THAT CAR!!! CRASH!!!! Guess that's not it.

Is it supposed to comfort the ones left behind? "Mommy, Mommy, look! There's where Daddy got dead! I feel better now!"..."Oh, look, Honey, there's where my brother bought the farm. It gives me such a warm feeling to see that every day." Nope, guess that's not it either.

Is it because that's where they buried the body? Nope, we have cemeteries and crematoriums for that, so that can't be it.

Is it for highway beautification? After all, nothing is more attractive by the side of the road than dead flowers, or filthy, discolored ones, or crudely made crosses falling over on their sides. Nope, guess that's not it either.

There is one of these roadside shrines on my way home from work. It's very well-tended; in fact, it's decorated for every holiday - Christmas, Easter, Halloween (Yes, Halloween!!!). I REALLY don't get that one.

I mean, if your father died in the operating room, would you put a shrine there? If your sister falls, bashes her head open, and dies at the local Wal-Mart, do you put a shrine at the checkout counter? If your cousin dies during a bank robbery, do you get all the blank deposit slips embossed with crosses?

All I know is, if I ever die in a car accident, and my family pulls this shrine crap, I'm gonna HAUNT them!!!