Cemeteries are the New Public Parks | The Social

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]A writer for the Globe and Mail says a cemetery is one of the best places to go for a walk.

[00:00:06]>> [cheering] >> The vegetation Now, hear me out. Hear me out. The vegetation is lush. It is full of tranquility. So, Bruce, are cemeteries I'm almost afraid to hear your answer.

[00:00:17]>> [laughter] >> ARE CEMETERIES A GOOD HANGOUT SPOT?

[00:00:22]WELL, WELL, WELL, first of all, why would anyone ever go on a walk?

[00:00:28]>> [laughter] >> It is so ridiculous. You go on a romantic weekend. Hey, honey, let's go for a walk. Why? Um, >> [laughter] >> okay. I would go through a cemetery only as a shortcut.

[00:00:38]Really? And but I draw the line at playing tombstone hopscotch. I think I think I think that's disrespectful to the dead. I really do. It is.

[00:00:48]Mel, do you like to I I haven't done it frequently, but I really do love the idea and it's not to play hopscotch or anything, but I I think there's first of all so few places of tranquility and reflection and I think I think if you're looking for meaning in life, to me I I had a teacher in high school who said, "We all need to experience more death."

[00:01:06]And I remember being 16 going, "That is awful. Who says that?" What he was trying to tell us is that how do you find meaning in life when you realize there is an end. We are not here forever. And my gosh, is there something when you do see young people or you start to read captions and you realize we're here for this long. So, if we can make impact or put meaning to life, this is kind of where it all ends. So, you know, you either YOLO it or you try to find meaning and I'll be I'll say something controversial. Um, I I think taking children through in an age-appropriate way to discuss that, I I've done it with my daughter and it is a beautiful thing to reflect.

[00:01:44]>> find it too. Like when you think of consider all especially an older cemetery, all those lives lived. It's a humbling sort of thing and it's a grounding sort of thing. In fact, 2026 New Year's Day, I went through a in one of Hamilton's oldest cemeteries and I was hoping to start off the new year in in a good way cuz 2025 was really rough on me. But the here here's a bit of a snag that I hit. Do you guys when whenever you walk into a library or a bookstore, do you ever have the urge to go to the bathroom? Do you know what I mean? Like that kind of bathroom. Do you know one No one feels like that? You don't get When you read A SHAMPOO BOTTLE, WHEN YOU read something, you don't HAVE TO OKAY, I HAVE FRIENDS WHO HAVE WHO HAVE CORROBORATED THIS. So I know I know there's SO WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY ABOUT THE CEMETERY IN THE >> TRYING TO SAY IS I WAS READING a lot and I found that I had to go to the bathroom.

[00:02:39]And it was not the way I envisioned starting off the new year. But the good news is I made it back to the car. The bad news is I didn't make it home in time.

[00:02:48]>> [cheering] >> So I started 2026 off with a real bang, I guess, BUT THAT'S WHY I LIKE CEMETERIES.

[00:02:58]>> [applause] >> MATT, PLEASE THROW THE BREAK. I'M BEGGING YOU.