Danish woman startled to see open coffin on her street

Imagine waking up first thing in the morning, looking out your window and seeing an open coffin complete with a body, out in the street below you.

That’s just what happened Sunday to Bente Kierbye Jensen, 58, of Osterbro, Denmark. “An old lady, dressed in a bathrobe, was just lying there,” explained Jensen, according to an article in the Copenhagen Post. “Her mouth was open and she had purple feet. Good thing no children saw it. It’s quite unprofessional on the undertaker’s behalf.” At first Jensen thought it might be part of some movie being filmed, but then she spotted an undertaker nearby and realized it was for real. She called out to him to cover the body. His explanation was that he had stopped by the home of the deceased woman’s relatives so they could have a final look and say their goodbyes before he carried on with his task. Apparently the relatives weren’t in any particular hurry. The coffin with the body lay out in the street for about 10 minutes before they came out accompanied by the undertaker’s colleague. Asked about the incident, the owner of the funeral business that was handling the arrangements, Christina Gauguin, described the situation as regrettable, and said they would regard it as a learning experience. “We try to the fullest extent possible to fulfill the family’s wishes, but we will take note that somebody was offended. We are going to have to learn from that,” she said.