One of the fairest things in the world is that everyone will be greeted with one thing in their lifetime, and that is death.
Whether a person is poor or rich, glorious or humiliated, when death comes, everyone will wash away the filth of their hearts and walk into eternal darkness.
It is precisely because of this that people are always afraid of facing the darkness alone when the big limit comes, and people are always willing to accompany their relatives in the last days with the highest respect.
Therefore, the filial piety and filial daughters of the spirit generally carry the important mission of sending off relatives and elders for thousands of years.
But today we're talking about a group of people who have been saying goodbye but have always been ignored.
They are the ferrymen who go to the darkness, but they are always misunderstood and discriminated against; they are the people who help the deceased to the end of the body, but they make themselves discriminated against in society. They are funeral workers.
Perhaps people are "angering" people with the grief of the death of their loved ones and the fear of facing death to these people who are engaged in funeral work.
Therefore, when these people engaged in funeral work stand in front of others, they will always make people avoid it, lest they get a trace of ominousness.
Funeral workers in the broad sense actually have a lot of division of labor, from plastic surgeons who specialize in makeup for the deceased, to "gentlemen and celebrants" who specialize in dojos, and hearse drivers who specialize in transporting the deceased.
But regardless of the division of labor, funeral workers have always been a sensitive and taboo profession in people's eyes. Today we are going to tell the story of a hearse driver.
Hearse driver driving a live broadcast
Wang Liang is a full-time hearse driver. He lives in Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province, and has been practicing for 5 years. For Wang Liang, who has been in the industry for many years, he knows the pain of being a hearse driver best.
Since August 2018, Wang Liang has launched a live broadcast on the Internet to introduce people to his job as a hearse driver.
There is no special field control, no professional copywriting, and no live broadcast content that wipes the edge ball, just a simple narration, which has attracted the attention of a large number of fans.
Perhaps for a group of people like them, the world has indeed ignored them for too long.
Along with Wang Liang, there were also his colleagues Zhao Honghao and Wang Xingguo. All three are colleagues, doing the same work, and naturally suffering from the same dilemma.
But for the three of them, facing the scene of life and death every day, they have different feelings and the same habits and situations.
Forced by livelihood choices
Wang Liang is 42 years old this year, and among the three people, Wang Liang has actually been engaged in this job for the shortest time.
Wang Liang was born in 1983, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the army as a soldier, and after retiring from the army, he entered a heavy industry state-owned enterprise in Gongzhuling City, but with the restructuring of the unit, Wang Liang was laid off and unemployed.
And just when Wang Liang encountered a major change in his life, he encountered a series of things such as his wife's pregnancy.
All kinds of unhappiness and accidents in life made wang liang and his family's life very difficult, and Wang Liang did many different careers in order to make a living.
But for him living in a small city like Gongzhuling, surviving is not an easy task.
In 2017, by chance, Wang Liang came to the funeral home and became a driver driving a hearse.
Because the funeral home is state-owned, the work is stable and can get wages on time, and also pays five social insurance and one gold, Wang Liang, who is already living on the edge of poverty, resolutely took over this job in order to make a living.
But what Wang Liang absolutely could not have imagined, from now on he would have to live in the same eyes as others.
The "exquisiteness" of hearse drivers
At the beginning, Wang Liang thought that as long as he drove a good car, he would do it. But as he gradually deepened his work, he found that there were many doorways in the doorway that wanted to be a qualified hearse driver.
Not only to be familiar with the local road traffic, but also to learn to communicate with the family, but also to be familiar with funeral rites.
Wang Liang told people that as a hearse driver, he must have a pair of white gloves in his carriage all year round, and whenever he picks up and drops off the deceased, he must wear gloves to work, which can show respect for the deceased.
From the hospital, the community to the funeral home, no matter whether the road is far or near, Wang Liang always has to plan the route in advance.
On the one hand, it is necessary to choose a smooth and good path as much as possible, so that it is also a kind of respect for the deceased lying in the trunk.
On the other hand, the route is chosen to avoid as many places as possible where complex road conditions may occur, because hearses cannot be changed at will, let alone turn back.
Many family members have taboos, believing that this is not good for the living.
After a period of work, Wang Liang gradually found that such a job was not as simple as he thought.
In addition to those complicated etiquette and taboos, more often it comes from the strange eyes of others.
At the beginning, Wang Liang believed that as a service industry, as long as it can ensure that there is a good attitude every time it receives "customers", it can be recognized by the family.
But in fact, after knowing the work, Wang Liang knew that as a hearse driver, it is difficult to ensure that he can have a good attitude every day.
Not only because every time I leave the car, I am infected by the solemn atmosphere, but also because of the various deceased people.
Facing death all day long, the "solemnity" and "sorrow" from the heart
Wang Liang told people that in 2018 alone, he took over about 2,000 deceased people, and sometimes about 20 people were picked up and dropped off by himself in a day.
Among those who died were the octogenarians and children as young as 7-8 years old. People of all ages have it.
When Wang Liang looked at all kinds of deceased people, he would often feel it, and such feelings would often make Wang Liang fall into a cloud of sorrow all day long.
When he first entered the industry, he was told by seniors that polite words such as "hello, goodbye" in their profession are taboo, and when they see the family of the deceased, remember to "smile and greet" like the general service industry.
At the beginning, Wang Liang just followed the instructions of his predecessors.
However, after a long time, Wang Liang found that even if no one had specifically told him, in addition to his serious face, it was really unlikely that he would face the family of the deceased with a smile.
Wang Liang's work often goes to several large hospitals and communities in the city; there are also some car accidents and criminal cases. In the past few years of his career, Wang Liang has seen too many deaths.
Once, a woman riding an electric car crashed into a speeding car and died on the spot.
When Wang Liang received the call and rushed to the scene, the woman's head had been smashed to pieces, and even her family did not dare to come forward and lift the woman's body.
In the end, it was Wang Liang and the woman's leadership who helped to send the lady to the hearse. The scene of the woman's death that day came to Wang Liang's mind for several days, and sometimes he even felt a hint of fear.
However, with the passage of time and the increasing number of "breathtaking" scenes he has seen, Wang Liang has gradually become accustomed to such scenes.
Even in some of the more tragic case scenes, even when the case-handling personnel felt that the internal organs were surging, Wang Liang could ensure his composure.
But what Wang Liang can't stand the most is often some life that shouldn't have been lost.
In 2017, wang Liang just entered the industry not long after encountering a special deceased. That day, Wang Liang drove a hearse to a dilapidated old community, and a 13-year-old child was carried slowly down the unit building by his father.
Although the deceased's face was covered with a thin cloth at that time, Wang Liang could still see at a glance that this was a child.
In addition to the child's body, the child's father put into the hearse with him, as well as his favorite basketball, yo-yo and clothes.
After the child is sent to the car, according to local customs, the white-haired person cannot send the black-haired person, so the child's parents did not follow the car, but could only stand in place and watch the hearse door close and the hearse slowly leave.
When the hearse door closed, Wang Liang could see the despair in the eyes of the parents. Wang Liang, who is also a parent, can certainly feel the sadness of the parents, and while driving, Wang Liang can't help but shed tears of sadness.
The ambivalence of "earning the money of the dead"
Wang Liang said that the job closest to death made him understand how good it is to be alive.
Perhaps people will not believe that Wang Liang, a person who ferryes for the dead, the last thing he wants to see is death. But in fact, Wang Liang, who sits on the hearse driver, is in such a contradiction every day.
Wang Liang said: "The deceased in the urban area is 8 pieces at a time; to Changchun, 100 kilometers away, it is 16 yuan at a time. I'd rather earn my base salary of 2700 yuan without a trip. Who wants to drive that car out and let others know? ”
For Wang Liang, every trip means an extra point of income, but it also means the departure of a life. Every time the phone rang, it was like telling a sad story to Wang Liang.
But Wang Liang's ideas will not be understood by others, for the nature of Wang Liang's work, many people always say with a bit of joke that they are "earning the money of the dead", always think that their solemn faces are pretended.
Perhaps only if you have experienced it yourself will you understand the pain. Whenever Wang Liang said this, he would shake his head helplessly, perhaps because he had been questioned for a long time and taken for granted, or perhaps he had seen too much open-mindedness after parting from life and death.
Being discriminated against has become the norm
Wang Liang said that in fact, it is good to be questioned, and the most serious thing is that this profession is discriminated against. This kind of discrimination is deeply rooted in people's thinking, and it is also the place that makes Wang Liang most uncomfortable.
Wang Liang often jokes that no matter where our car is parked, we should never worry about someone stealing the car.
Because people saw the two big words "funeral" posted on it, even thieves would take a detour.
Once Wang Liang got out of the car to pick up a deceased person, because the deceased's home was relatively remote, the road conditions were relatively poor. All along the way, there were potholes, and Wang Liang's tires were punctured by the rubble on the side of the road.
At that time, it was already past 7 p.m., and Wang Liang asked one by one along the road, but no car repair shop was willing to help Wang Liang repair the tire.
Every time I asked, the other party would say: "We don't dare to stab the car that killed people." In the end, it was the colleague who drove the spare tire, so that the hearse finally arrived at its destination and successfully received the deceased.
Not only that, Wang Liang said that their hearse usually even washes a car can only be done by themselves, and no car wash is willing to receive their hearse.
Even sometimes when you stop and ask two questions, the owner of the car wash will think that you are in front of their store, scaring the other car washers away. While speaking, wang liang's expression revealed a sense of helplessness.
Because the time will receive some unnatural deaths of deceased people, every time after these deceased people are taken to the funeral home, the car is a mess.
Not only is it blood stained, but sometimes all kinds of "things" are shed.
Every time he encountered such a situation, in winter Wang Liang had to use a pot of hot water to pour upwards, and then rinse it over and over again.
In the summer, it is necessary to rinse it many times with a high-pressure water gun to wash away the smell of decomposing corpses on the car.
Wang Liang said that to work here is to withstand all kinds of strange eyes from the outside world.
In Wang Liang's live broadcast room, sometimes Wang Liang's colleague Zhao Honghao will also tell fans about his experience.
If discrimination from outsiders is inevitable because of the special nature of the profession, then the most uncomfortable thing for those of them in the funeral industry is that sometimes this discrimination may even come from their own families.
Zhao Honghao is a colleague of Wang Liang's, working as a hearse driver a few years before Wang Liang. Before that, he was the owner of a funeral supplies store.
Later, as a funeral celebrant, the old man gritted his teeth in the air after knowing the aftermath, and said to Zhao Honghao: "Talents who have no ability are upside down on the business of the dead." ”
Every time the old man said such a thing, Zhao Honghao felt very rogue.
Once his wife told Zhao Honghao that she was going to a classmate party. The wife's classmates clearly told their wives, "Don't take your husband."
In fact, such a thing is already a common thing for Wang Liang and Zhao Honghao.
The reason for the live broadcast is also to find an outlet for emotional catharsis, but also to let more people understand and accept their profession.
Before that, whether it was Wang Liang or Zhao Honghao, they all had a secret about their profession.
We hope to change people's attitudes towards this industry through live broadcasting
Wang Liang once said in the live broadcast room that when he first joined the company, he would almost no longer party with friends, no longer go to relatives, and even the personal exchanges were often only courtesy to people. On the day of the big day, I don't want to add to the blockage of others.
Sometimes even during the Spring Festival, Wang Liang is willing to stay alone in the funeral home, because in Wang Liang's words, he is the person who "no one wants to see."
Later, gradually Wang Liang recognized his profession from his heart, and gradually went to the front.
The reason why Wang Liang opened the live broadcast is actually to let more people understand the funeral industry, understand the helplessness of practitioners, and also want people to have more understanding and tolerance, and less discrimination.
Gradually, Wang Liang's live broadcast room gathered many peers and all the fans who understood their profession better.
Although there is no shortage of people in the fans, as the live broadcast continues, more and more people say that they can understand the work of Wang Liang and others, and also show respect for the profession they are engaged in.
Seeing these changes, Wang Liang was very happy in his heart. Although the road to understanding is still far away, it is already a good start.
I hope that one day, people will really accept a group of people like Wang Liang who are engaged in the funeral industry from the heart!