Reading the room is one of those social skills most of us think we’ve mastered, until we find ourselves in a situation where it really matters. And few places test that ability more than a funeral.
People are grieving, reconnecting with family members, and sometimes just trying to get through the day. It’s an emotionally charged space, and that alone can make people say or do things that feel out of place — whether intentional or not.
Sometimes it’s something small but jarring, like a phone ringing loudly in the middle of a eulogy. Other times, it’s someone commenting on the quality of the food at the service.
These awkward and inappropriate moments have been widely shared online, and we’ve rounded up some of the worst funeral faux pas to avoid at all costs.
#41
The worst was when a member of the deceased's family stood up during the long-winded preacher's seemingly endless sermon and asked him to "please stop talking" (because they'd be late arriving for the restaurant reception following the service).
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8points
#42
My dad's a minister, and since him and my mum had divorced, he would often bring me along for work that happened outside of school hours so he didn't have to pay a babysitter. He would bring me to funerals and weddings he was officiating. I would usually just hang out in the back and play. One day he brought me to a funeral parlor I wasn't familiar with and at some point during the service I had to pee. There wasn't anyone around to ask so I just kind of wandered out into the service and asked my dad where the bathroom was because I had to pee "real bad". In addition to disrupting a funeral service, I also asked my question right into the microphone on his jacket so the whole congregation heard. Didn't really understand what I had done for another few years.
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8points
#43
The vicar hurried the deceased's brother off stage in the middle of a very emotionally charged speech in order to recite the Lord's Prayer. For the least religious guy's funeral and everybody knew it.
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8points
#44
"Look, I'm picking her nose."-Cousin sticking finger up nostril of dead great Aunt's corpse.
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8points
#45
At my Dads funeral last year, one of the priests started out saying my Dad was an excellent community man and would be sorely missed, then went off the rails telling everyone that not even my Dad was guaranteed a place in heaven and we would all need to keep praying for his soul. I wanted to punch him so hard.
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6points
#46
At the post-viewing dinner for my grandfather (less than 24 hours after he died) my aunt joked to my grandmother that she should start dating again.
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5points