The Facts of Life1979

Tootie Ramsey:
You know what I don't understand? How come there are no flowers? When somebody dies, people usually send flowers.

Jo Polniaczek:
Not to a shiva house.

Blair Warner:
What's shiva?

Edna Garrett:
Shiva is the Jewish period of mourning, and the family follows certain customs you know, like wearing that black ribbon.

Jo Polniaczek:
Yeah, and there's no music or TV allowed.

Blair Warner:
[sees a sheet draped on the mantle] I wonder what that is.

Edna Garrett:
It's a mirror, but in a shiva house all the mirrors are covered.

Blair Warner:
Why?

Jo Polniaczek:
Because they're a symbol of vanity, Blair, and they're out of place in a house of mourning.