Would Methuselah have done Death Café?

The old saw is that there are only three sure things in life: death, taxes and your children doing the opposite of what you advise. Taxes you could get around, until the recent Panama Papers leaks, but now the noose is tightening around the tax haven neck. Death, on the other hand, has been given a new lease of life. Huge breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are leading to forecasts of earthlings living well into their 100s in the near future. Of course, this will still be well short of long-lived early humans like Methuselah (lived until age 969), his son Lamech (777) and other famous biblical characters like Noah (950) and Adam (930).  Even so, whether we are to live to 120 or 800, the new restaurant concept, Death Café, is now taking on a life of its own. Nowhere more so than in East London where Meg Southey has just franchised out the third establishment in her Sunshine Coast Death Café chain. People of all ages are flocking to the venues, for an evening of coffee, cake and chat about this formerly taboo subject. Avers biker Mandy Venter, a regular visitor, 'It's awesome. It's not like some coffee klatch or baby shower, it's real life and death stuff. You can get an adrenalin charge just contemplating your own demise.' Already a new range of Death Café merchandise has found its way into supermarkets. Peter Williams from Nahoon says: 'Originally, I started with black balloons, skull-shaped cookies and grim reaper pointy hats on a barrow at a street market but it's caught on so fast I now have orders from some of the big chains, like Doves.' It's a moot point as to whether any of the likes of Methuselah would have displayed interest in a Death Café until well into their 700s or even 800s but the current generation is determined to join the fun while it can. As for children, they will only go to a Death Café if you order them not to.