The mayor of a French city has taken the hilarious decision to ban death on weekends and holidays. Well, it's not a spoof making its way into the news file accidentally. And it's not a scene from a sci-fi movie either, but you can very well mark it down as a piece on display of the remarkable French exceptionalism when it comes to ontological questions!
The community from where the strange and ridiculous order has emerged is La Gresle, on the outskirts of Lyon. It's a small community with some 850 people. The mayor of the city says there is an acute dearth of doctors in the region and hence medical causalities become too difficult to be attended to on weekends and holidays.
December weekend horror
The report in RT says that the mayor has been frustrated over the lack of doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners. His troubles mounted on a December weekend when the city authorities could not find a doctor to record official medical details after a community member died.
"The SAMU (local emergency medical services office) refused to send us a doctor and asked the local police to handle the administrative duties," La Gresle Mayor Isabelle Dugelet said. The mayor's office put through a communiqué to this effect.
The absurdity of all
The report says that the city council finally managed to find a doctor from the neighbouring region. By proclaiming the death ban, the mayor was actually throwing light onto a pesky law that discourages people from seeking out medical help from other regions. As per the report, citizens who seek healthcare intervention from other municipalities end up facing penalties against their medical assistance grants from the government.
The mayoral office said the intention was to highlight the absurdity of the situation through an equally absurd response. "A recent death on a Sunday has proved the absurdity of a system, to which the mayor responds with an absurd order," says the communiqué.
