"pine caskets are not cheap"

I had the opportunity to have a discussion with a funeral director and check out their wares. I was surprised by several statements that he made. The reason that the statement in the title of this posting is so outrageous is that I live in Prince George. The funeral director had the odasity to tell me this when we live right smack in the middle of 10 million hectares of beetle killed pine trees. The loggers are clear cutting as fast as they can to salvage the wood before it becomes unmarketable. I wondered why this large business was providing me with this statement. The answer to my question came a few statements later when I asked the funeral director where he gets his caskets. He initially stated that they come out of Edmonton, but when I pushed the issue further he acknowledged that they are manufactured in the good ol' US of A. So instead of supporting local businesses and providing value added products the bulk of our money for caskets gets exported (along with our raw logs).

Did I mention that the "affordable" boxes were either cardboard, plywood or mostly particle board. The particle board boxes looked shiny and had real wood on the lid, however this beauty was only skin deep. This is very much like the funeral industry itself, on the surface it is managed by business people in suits with fancy limousine's, interiors with plenty of gold coloured trim. If you look closer and examine the substance beneath the flair you realize that there is not much there. It provides a rationalization for the multinational company to overcharge for its services.