Nothing is safe from the far-reaching clutches of capitalism, not even the dead. A money-grabbing, exploitative, greedy cemetery in the UK has decided to start charging visitors for a VIP pass to visit the graves of their relatives.
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The Garden of Remembrance in Stoke-On-Trent has decided that outside of office hours, visitors will need to use a VIP pass to access their relatives. This will cost money and will be used to open the electronic gate. They say it is to protect the graves while there are no staff around, but this is a load of bull.
People who have relatives in the cemetery have already paid for the plots and should be able to visit whenever they please. On the Facebook page, one mourner voices their grievances. "Now I need to pay a membership fee to visit my dad's grave. This is an absolute disgrace. Shame on you Garden of Remembrance."
Cemeteries have always been open to the public. They are a place of reverence and remembrance and are rarely vandalized. This decision is just a way to claw back money from the relatives by creating a VIP pass.
It's More Than Just The Cost of The VIP Pass For Relatives
This isn't really about how much the cemetery is charging for people to visit, it's the principle of the thing. A note states that it will cost £10 to visit the rose garden, and £5 to visit the graves. It isn't mentioned whether this is a one-off payment or a repeat cost, but that's beside to point.
This predatory practice is gatekeeping people's relatives behind a phony VIP pass. The owner of the cemetery tries to justify his decision to start charging visitors. He makes the excuse, saying "People can know it's safe when they're visiting and they'll be safe from undesirables breaking in now. The key cards are not coming into force until January 1 because people wouldn't be happy if we did it before Christmas." As far as I am aware, cemeteries haven't usually been places for 'undesirables' to go. There is little to steal, and most people carry some kind of respect for the deceased.
Having to buy a VIP subscription to visit a plot containing dead relatives or friends is wild.
