Reddit mentions of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Hi! I'm glad you're curious, but I'm not the best person to ask. I work with animal cremations, not human, but it's essentially the same process on exactly the same machines, just smaller loads. Also, I stumbled into this job completely on accident. We needed coverage in the animal shelter I worked in at the time, so I ended up not having to apply or really even search for a job in the field.

Something I wish I had known beforehand (although not a deal-breaker) was that I'd end up being as much a grief counselor as I am a crematory operator, so having good interpersonal communication skills is an absolute must. Most places that I've seen in my area (Upstate NY) also require at least a two-year college degree, but maybe it's different for wherever you're at.

If you're really interested, I'd suggest calling around to funeral homes or crematories in your area and first asking if they're hiring, and if not, asking if you can possibly shadow them for a day. You can read about dead things all you want online, but it's something completely different having to physically handle them and get blood and goo all over yourself (if you're unlucky, that is).

Also, I read a book awhile back called Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty. Although this book is written by someone who works with human cremations, it has enough similarities with my position that I can definitely say it's an accurate representation of working in this field. She also has a youtube channel that I find very interesting.

Wish I could be more help, sorry!

I don't! I might shift into that kind of role when I eventually become a medical examiner. I always like to recommend Caitlin Doughty and her YouTube series "Ask a Mortician." She also has two really beautiful books: From Here To Eternity and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.

Same. Organ donation if possible, then toss me out in the woods! I want my dead flesh to become the living tissue of another plant or animal as fast as possible. It's my version of eternal life. :)

ETA: If you haven't read Caitlin Doughty's book, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes yet, you should.

Have you read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?

By Caitlin Doughty. She has some insightful and amusing views including more natural internment methods.

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Hey there, welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here on RAoA! I recommend keeping your eye out for the adopt a newbie weekly thread, there you can post and someone will scoop you up and show you the way of things. I'm new to this sub as well, and have already met a hand full of great people, and I hope you will too!

Recommendations!

Movie: The most recent movie I watched was John Dies At The End. It's hard to explain what genre it is. It's like horror/comedy/sci-fi/thriller type. I really enjoyed the book as well. Recommend if you're into horror comedy!

TV Show: I just finished Nurse Jackie and loved the hell out of it. I was pretty sad when I finished it. I had to just like... sit there for a while and process it all. Even if you're not into medical drama type shows, NJ has a good dose of comedy and has excellent character development. I really enjoyed how well the writers were able to get you to love and root for the main character even when she's being a massive shit head.

Band: I'm going out on a limb here because you said that you listen to tons of different genres of music. I rarely ever meet people that share music taste with me, so on the off chance you do, here's the song that's been stuck in my head since Saturday: Hollow

Game: Sanctum 2! I almost never see this one talked about but holy smokes. If you like Portal, Sanctum 2 is great. It's FPS meets Tower Defense, and the best thing? It's multiplayer! My boyfriend and I had a blast playing through all the levels (of course with me being the mastermind of successful solutions). I'm actually really sad it's over. Trine 2 and Portal 2 were loads of fun to play with him as well.

Book: I'm currently reading East of Eden by Steinbeck due to peer pressure, but I'm looking forward to reading this next.

Reading Rainbow! Or this one or even this one...

We avoid all thoughts of death in the west. We just don’t want to think about our loved ones or ourselves dying. That’s why we let funeral services deal with the whole thing and you pay them the big bucks.

A really great book by Ask a Mortician lets you get comfortable with the idea that you’re going to die and everyone around you is going to die and there’s nothing you can do about it, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes