When my FIL what was a veterinarian was cremated, his remains were in a nice wooden box on his old antique desk. My SIL always referred to it as, "Doc in a box."
I'm leaning more toward "incompetence" as the explanation for this. What good does it do Reddit to leave RIF intact, but simply disallow logging in?
Reddit's value depends on content creation and interactions driving ad views. Read-only RIF users create no content or interactions with the site. And for many like me who purchased the premium ad-free version, we see no ads.
Admittedly, I'm not sure if the RIF ads in the free version are Reddit's own ads or not, but without the content creation, and the interactions driving more engagement, RIF does little but drag on the site.
This is great advice, coming from someone who pondered using the "Mother was really sick and had to manage her illness and passing" excuse if I ever went back, as it was true for me too. (I'm sorry for your loss, it's a really painful life transition, I know.)
I ended up taking a slightly different approach. I worked in IT project management before I retired early. My LinkedIn resume shows me currently employed as an "IT consultant" and will until I decide I need another job or I kick it.
When my FIL what was a veterinarian was cremated, his remains were in a nice wooden box on his old antique desk. My SIL always referred to it as, "Doc in a box."