BlackBuried?

Via Version 1.0, an MSNBC story about what may very well be the latest trend in dying (at least since the days when the Egyptian pharaohs had all their crap buried with them): taking your cellphone with you.

Ed Defort, publisher and editorial director for American Funeral Director magazine, says it's a definite trend.

“I’ve even heard of cases where people are being buried with their iPod. Or one guy who was prepared for his viewing with his Bluetooth (headset) in his ear.”

But it’s the cell phone, in particular, that seems to be the burial gadget of choice.

And given how ineptly people on cellphones drive, the devices certainly seem to be hastening their owners' demises. Even more weirdly:

“I’ve seen people leave cell phones on and tell me they’re going to call their loved one later,” says Vetter. “Not that anyone will answer, but they want to have that connection. I’m sure the family gathers around the phone when they call. They feel connected with that person because it’s their phone, but at the same time it helps them realize that a death has occurred.”

It kind of reminds me of that old Twilight Zone episode "Night Call" where an elderly woman kept getting mysterious phone calls—and it turned out that a storm had knocked the phone lines down on top of the grave of her long-dead fiancé, who was apparently calling her from beyond. Today, though, with Caller ID she could easily see who it was: "Oh, it's my dead fiancé calling again. I think I'll just let voicemail get it."