COMPTON, Calif. - There are drive-thru burger joints and drive-thru banks but now one California city offers the ultimate in drive-thru convenience: drive-thru casket viewing.
Yes, at the Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton, south of Los Angeles, it is possible to view the deceased resting in a casket display window while cruising past in your car, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
"It's a unique feature that sets us aside from other funeral parlors," said owner Peggy Scott Adams.
"You can come by after work, you don't need to deal with parking, you can sign the book outside and the family knows that you paid your respects," Scott Adams explained. "It's a convenience thing."
Although the Times reported a handful of drive-thru funeral parlors were known to operate in other parts of the US, this was believed to be the first in southern California, home of cars and convenience.
The paper also pointed out some additional pluses for those who favor mobile mourning: seniors do not have to leave their cars, families can avoid hosting a formal viewing and the disabled can roll past in their wheelchairs.
Plus, Adams pointed out, the drive-thru glass partition is bulletproof - a consideration after cemetery shootouts broke out at gang funerals in the 1980s.
The drive-thru is 12 feet wide, with the glass display window visible from the street.
"I think it's wonderful, "said one woman quoted by the Times as she cruised past a casket last month. "It's nice to be able to drive through. You don't have to go inside. It's real convenient."
"It's different," said another."I'm used to just going up and looking into the casket, and spending as much time as you need. But it's good this way. Not quite as emotional."
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