Speaking Death

To the people of my ethnicity, it is awfully rude to speak of the death of somebody that is still alive.  If I were to rate it, it is probably the most disrespectful thing you could say, regardless of the situation and whether the person is present or not.  As a matter of fact, I can't even joke about it.
Last time I did it, I remember having great time chatting and laughing with those people but as soon as I came up with a joke that involve about death, the whole group's face dropped as if I have actually murdered the person already.  That ruined my joke... and I killed the mood.

Death of someone still living is a subject of taboo... It's a bad omen.  And definitely not funny...

Everybody is either scared of death or old age.  I see no exception.  I understand talking about death is unpleasant because it is, after all, the end of the line and you will never overcome it no matter how strong, how fast or smart your human capacities allows you to be.  Countless people tries to immortalize themselves through different schemes and you seem to watch the same scenario over and over... whatevar...

For the same reasons, I think that is precisely why it is a better idea to speak about it.  Death.  Mentioning it should be as natural as the topic is.  It's by fearing to uncover the unknown that feeds the fear.  At that point, death will seem scarier than it actually is.  People needs to stop repressing it, ethnically speaking especially.  We should be able to talk about it naturally and even more to joke about it.  That being part of life.