--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember calling the council's cemetery…" description: "\"“I remember calling the council's cemetery department to ask about body decomposition in different soil types. Once they had verified that I was a nove..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/sara-sheridan-1032_anecdote_i-remember-calling-the-council-s-cemeter_2184696.png" --- # I remember calling the council's cemetery department to… ![“I remember calling the council's cemetery department to ask about body decomposition in different soil types. Once they had verified that I was a novelist and not a sicko, they were extremely helpful.” quote by Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/sara-sheridan-1032_anecdote_i-remember-calling-the-council-s-cemeter_2184696.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/sara-sheridan-1032_anecdote_i-remember-calling-the-council-s-cemeter_2184696.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/sara-sheridan-1032_anecdote_i-remember-calling-the-council-s-cemeter_2184696.png) > ““I remember calling the council's cemetery department to ask about body decomposition in different soil types. Once they had verified that I was a novelist and not a sicko, they were extremely helpful.”” [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator humorously recounts a bureaucratic interaction about a morbid topic, revealing curiosity and humor. **In simple terms:** Even grim topics can be approached with wit. Key Takeaway Use humor to explore uncomfortable subjects. Themes humor curiosity mortality Mood lighthearted reflective Type literary humorous When to use this quote - research for writing - handling taboo topics - author interviews Key Concepts bureaucracy novel writing ethical boundaries Questions to Reflect On - How does humor change perception of death? - What ethical lines exist in such inquiries? A Different Perspective Humor can soften serious discussions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anecdote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdote/) [Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) [Cemetery Department](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery-department-4734578/) [Council Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/council-cemetery-4734579/) [Decomposition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decomposition/) [Decomposition Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decomposition-different-4734581/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Humour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humour/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Sicko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sicko-170037/) [Verified Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verified-novelist-4734580/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes you don’t even have to have sex at all, and for that kind of sicko, you charge double.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/sometimes-you-don-t-even-have-to-have-sex-at-all-and-for-that-kind-of/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [What is called Western Civilization is in an advanced state of decomposition, and another Dark Ages will soon be upon us, if, indeed, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/what-is-called-western-civilization-is-in-an-advanced-state-of/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [While there are practical and sometimes moral reasons for the decomposition of the family, it coincides neither with what most people in society say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-neelly-bellah/while-there-are-practical-and-sometimes-moral-reasons-for-the/) [Robert Neelly Bellah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-neelly-bellah/) > [“Bodies that drown in deep water may never surface.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/bodies-that-drown-in-deep-water-may-never-surface/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [It is known, to the force of a single pound weight, what the engine will do; but, not all the calculators of the National…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-is-known-to-the-force-of-a-single-pound-weight-what-the-engine/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In the primal state before any manifestation, when there was no motion but perfect balance, this Prakriti was indestructible, because decomposition or death comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/in-the-primal-state-before-any-manifestation-when-there-was-no-motion/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Do these fuels result always and necessarily in one way from the decomposition of a pre-existing organic substance? Is it thus with the hydrocarbons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcellin-berthelot/do-these-fuels-result-always-and-necessarily-in-one-way-from-the/) [Marcellin Berthelot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcellin-berthelot/) > [A life cycle can be imposed on an object. An object can be very energetic and active, and then it has a dying phase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/a-life-cycle-can-be-imposed-on-an-object-an-object-can-be-very/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [I will now direct the attention of scientists to a previously unnoticed cause which brings about the metamorphosis and decomposition phenomena which are usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/i-will-now-direct-the-attention-of-scientists-to-a-previously/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [We allowed ourselves to become particularly interested in research into the appearance of intermediate products of sugar decomposition during cell-free fermentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduard-buchner/we-allowed-ourselves-to-become-particularly-interested-in-research/) [Eduard Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduard-buchner/) > [Life is the twofold internal movement of composition and decomposition at once general and continuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-marie-ducrotay-de-blainville/life-is-the-twofold-internal-movement-of-composition-and/) [Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-marie-ducrotay-de-blainville/) > [The cycle of life is death, decomposition and regeneration, and a person who wants to stop killing animals is actually anti-life because it's only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/the-cycle-of-life-is-death-decomposition-and-regeneration-and-a/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [There are forces in nature called Love and Hate. The force of Love causes elements to be attracted to each other and to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empedocles/there-are-forces-in-nature-called-love-and-hate-the-force-of-love/) [Empedocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empedocles/) > [“It is worth noting that the main players in the recomposition project are women—scientists, anthropologists, lawyers, architects. Educated women, who have the privilege to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-doughty/it-is-worth-noting-that-the-main-players-in-the-recomposition-project/) [Caitlin Doughty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-doughty/) ## More by Sara Sheridan > [Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/everyone-assumes-writers-spend-their-time-lounging-around-writing-and/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“Kissing her is like drinking salted water, he thinks. His thirst only increases.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/kissing-her-is-like-drinking-salted-water-he-thinks-his-thirst-only/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Those who have not been stung will hardly fear a bee the same as those who have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/those-who-have-not-been-stung-will-hardly-fear-a-bee-the-same-as/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in reading and writing since the advent of the Gutenberg press.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/we-are-in-the-middle-of-the-biggest-revolution-in-reading-and-writing/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-sky-was-a-sparkling-succession-of-black-diamonds-on-black-velvet/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“The bonds between a family are strange indeed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-bonds-between-a-family-are-strange-indeed/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/history-is-full-of-blank-spaces-but-good-stories-invariably-are-not/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“The mass communications that could enable our politics for good have instead turned it into a bland conglomeration of stinted opinion cloaked in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-mass-communications-that-could-enable-our-politics-for-good-have/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/i-ve-found-myself-moved-by-letters-and-diaries-in-archives-as-well-as/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Grabbing readers by the imagination is a writer's job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/grabbing-readers-by-the-imagination-is-a-writer-s-job/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [As an historical novelist - there are few jobs more retrospective. I dumped science at an early age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/as-an-historical-novelist-there-are-few-jobs-more-retrospective-i/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“Crime writers, I've noticed, can be jumpy. They live in a world where there are murderers on the loose and they haven't been caught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/crime-writers-i-ve-noticed-can-be-jumpy-they-live-in-a-world-where/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“The writing talent of Edinburgh is textured - we have poets, novelists, non-fiction writers, dramatists and more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-writing-talent-of-edinburgh-is-textured-we-have-poets-novelists/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“Communism,” I observed, “is a pile of wank.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/communism-i-observed-is-a-pile-of-wank/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [A word out of place or an interesting choice of vocabulary can spawn a whole character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/a-word-out-of-place-or-an-interesting-choice-of-vocabulary-can-spawn/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) [Explore all 305 Sara Sheridan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More Anecdote quotes > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Sometimes I get the start of a story from a memory, an anecdote, but that gets lost and is usually unrecognizable in the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/sometimes-i-get-the-start-of-a-story-from-a-memory-an-anecdote-but/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [ “\[The cats\] scamper in front of my legs, causing me to fall and face plant into whatever furniture is closest. They especially like to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weston-locher/the-cats-scamper-in-front-of-my-legs-causing-me-to-fall-and-face/) [Weston Locher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weston-locher/) > [Meanwhile with the help of an anecdote I fell in love. Words caravaggio. They have a power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/meanwhile-with-the-help-of-an-anecdote-i-fell-in-love-words/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Somewhere, there, is an analogy, in a small way, if you have the patience for it. But I guess it isn't a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/somewhere-there-is-an-analogy-in-a-small-way-if-you-have-the-patience/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [An anecdote is related of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (1621-1683), who, in speaking of religion, said, "People differ in their discourse and profession about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-burnet/an-anecdote-is-related-of-sir-anthony-ashley-cooper-1621-1683-who-in/) [Gilbert Burnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-burnet/) > [“The usual short story cannot have a complex plot, but it often has a simple one resembling a chain with two or three links.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/the-usual-short-story-cannot-have-a-complex-plot-but-it-often-has-a/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) > [“She wondered if she was in the midst of an anecdote that, for reasons of proximity, she was not yet able to perceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/she-wondered-if-she-was-in-the-midst-of-an-anecdote-that-for-reasons/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Sometimes ... the short short appears to rest on nothing more than a fragile anecdote which the writer has managed to drape with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/sometimes-the-short-short-appears-to-rest-on-nothing-more-than-a/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) > [“In the middle section of the book Mirabelle breaks into not one, but two houses near Belgravia Books. I had fun scoping these out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/in-the-middle-section-of-the-book-mirabelle-breaks-into-not-one-but/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“I was fired ignominiously from the Junior School Choir for being so off tune that the choir mistress declared she couldn't even bear to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/i-was-fired-ignominiously-from-the-junior-school-choir-for-being-so/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [The plural of anecdote is not data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bekoff/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-not-data/) [Marc Bekoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bekoff/) > [“After all, this was the place where I’d had my first meaningful conversation with a female, it was the site of a football’s first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weston-locher/after-all-this-was-the-place-where-i-d-had-my-first-meaningful/) [Weston Locher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weston-locher/) > [I have one anecdote about the FBI breaking into an embassy in Washington, and under Hoover, they had this sort of ruse whereby they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-kessler/i-have-one-anecdote-about-the-fbi-breaking-into-an-embassy-in/) [Ronald Kessler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-kessler/) [Browse all 54 Anecdote quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdote/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I remember calling the council's cemetery department to ask about body decomposition in different soil types. 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