We’re dead.
Funerals are never easy, but mourners have a habit of making things awkward — to the point where these solemn occasions can become unintentionally hilarious.
A simple question asked on a popular Reddit forum — “What is the worst thing someone has said or done at a funeral?” — appears to have resonated wildly with readers, who couldn’t wait to share their own bizarre, often quite funny experiences.
The now-viral discussion thread, first spotlighted by The Outkick, delivers one accidentally comedic moment after another — peppered with an unhealthy dose of just plain cringe.
“A friend of my father gets really anxious in funerals,” one person related. “One time he wanted to wish a widow good health for her and her children, but instead he shook her hand and said: ‘I wish this for your kids.’”
“This is why Luca Brasi rehearsed,” one wiseguy replied, referring to a famous scene from “The Godfather.”
“My family is really bizarre,” another Redditor confessed, trying to explain away their trashy account of a stepparent’s memorial service.
“The worst I’ve ever seen? My stepbrother gave the eulogy at his dad’s funeral,” they explained.
“[He] stood up in front of the entire church and talked about how much his dad loved….. no kidding…. Littering. How he’d throw out bags of fast food garbage for “criminals to clean up.” I’ve heard of pouring one out for the homies but never tossing out your BK Whopper wrapper to commemorate Stepdad Dave,” they said.
And while officiants forgetting the deceased’s name was a common complaint, at other times, the families themselves made things far more awkward than they had to be.
“My grandpa’s funeral in the early 2000’s — my brother accidentally left on his ringer and during a prayer all you hear is “You’ve got mother f*cking mail Beyotch!” a user shared.
“The family has yet to let him live that down,” they said.
One horrified relative shared an incredibly awkward moment where someone forgot to think before they spoke.
“Unfortunately, I had a cousin who passed away at 9yrs old,” they said.
“I don’t know who the guy was, friend of my uncle or something? Anyways, he goes up to my grieving aunt and uncle and says, ‘It’s not like you can’t have another one.’”
According to the storyteller, the thoughtless attendee was invited outside by family members for an attitude adjustment.
One ashamed grandchild confessed to creating their own uncomfortable moment at a young age.
“Probably what I said when I was 7 at my Grandpa’s funeral. I thought I was saying my Grandpa had died but my Grandma and other 2 Grandparents were still alive,” they admitted.
“‘One down, three to go,’” their pint-sized self proclaimed to a horrified audience.
And speaking of horrifying: “At my stepfather’s funeral, my MIL grabbed my daughter’s belly (who was already upset and distraught) and said “what is this” insinuating she was fat,” another person related.
Still others told stories of opportunistic attendees using services as a place to network socially, so to speak.
“I once saw the best friend of the deceased ‘pop the question’ to the grieving widow at the damn viewing. Dude got rocked by her dad outside. It was like a movie!” one onlooker exclaimed.
New Yorkers of course know the joke about showing up to funerals to ask who gets the apartment — but one craven mourner had his sights set a lot lower.
“My dad passed and my uncle asked at the service if he could have my dad’s exercise equipment,” a mortified child recounted.
But the recurring theme appeared to be people unable to find the right words to say at a difficult time — and in the end, saying the worst words possible.
“My mother died unexpectedly at age 47. I was 21,” one receiver of unsolicited condolences revealed.
“We’d had a difficult relationship but I loved her. My therapist at the time came up to me in the receiving line, hugged me, and said that I must be so relieved,” they shared.
Weirdest of all, perhaps, was the funeral where the corpse was literally passed around so people could say goodbye.
“My niece lost a 6-month-old,” one creeped-out family member explained. “They were passing the baby around so people could hold it. Weird AF!”
Or maybe it wasn’t so weird.
“I’m gonna have my loved ones do this when I die at 95,” one reader joked.
“Just crowd-surf me into the casket, please,” another requested.
