I don't do the practice when I wake up, and I tend to avoid it. For me, it's unusual, maybe because we have different countries and traditions, and maybe if I were in your country, I would definitely like to do it.
Of course, those are the two main reasons that make it alien to you but if you peradventure visited a place where you were able to witness such, you will most certainly do it to encourage the bereaved, well, at least me. But when you are not in the same country, you may not see such, and even if you are in the same country, the locality/community you are in matters. Just like in my country, the division is many because we have over 170 tribes in just a country. So, what they are doing in the North and East of the country could be so strange to me, but in my place, we do not have any unusual practices that can be strange to them.
Even in the East and North, many communities still have their strange practices that their fellow Easterners would not just know of, that's how deep it is. The world is large, and we should expect strange traditions like this when we are far from home.
Immediately I first saw this post last month, I knew it would be done in the Asian part of the world, and when people replied to my first post, they stated that the tradition "Tong" is commonly practised in the Philippines, which made my suspicions right. Strangest practices are happening in the Asian part of the world, so brace yourself when you visit such a place.