I've just recently attended the funeral service of a friend, who was widely respected and contributed greatly to members of his community and generally.
Unfortunately, part of a family member's spoken tribute over the microphone was drowned out by the din of a lawnmower right next door.
Some months back I experienced a similar disruption when tuning into the livestream recording of another friend's funeral service, that time held in outer New York.
The only occasion, hopefully extremely rare, when any noise barrier might be forgiven, would be if a speaker made highly inflammatory comments about the deceased.
On the assumption that a funeral home or place of worship wouldn't have a continuous booking of deceased bodies to 'process', like an assembly line, there must be breaks to enable uninvolved neighbours to operate any deafening implements or machinery to meet their needs and thereby show respect for the deceased and grieving relatives and friends.
People flocking to a funeral service should be a clear sign to any potential noise-maker; if not, a physical 'Funeral service in progress' sign or two placed beside the premises should be plain enough for 'blind Freddy' to see and observe.
Mike Morphett, Thirroul
The duality of mobility scooters
While it is wonderful to see how technology, such as mobility scooters has improved the ability for people with a disability to function to their fullest potential.
Unfortunately, problems can exist and do with the use of mobility scooters. Not the least being, when mobility scooter operators fail to consider the safety of the public.
One need not be a surgeon to appreciate the effect upon the human body of it being impacted and then run over by a 100kg-plus mobile scooter travelling at 10kmph.
Clearly there are many examples where modern technology correctly used, can assist the disabled. Conversely, the ill-considered use of technology can and has resulted in an increased pool of disabled. The victims of mobility scooter mishandling being an example. What if any regulations cover the use of mobility scooters in terms of operator ability and public risk liability?
Barry Swan, Balgownie
That early-morning bond
John Martin asks how to reduce the time he takes to lap 50 metres with the Whalers (Letters, April 20). I did laps years ago when I was an all-year swimmer.
An aged body ended my lap swimming replaced by breaststroke and walks in the pool. A balance problem has now replaced the pool with morning walks.
What has remained is that special bond that unites the morning swimmers. Wonder if there is a pool in an after-life ?
Reg Wilding, Wollongong
