Poppy Day

[Ozzie Osmond]

Yup - it used to be Poppy Day. 11 November. WW1 Armistice Day. With Remembrance Sunday falling close by. I make a small donation each year although I choose not to take a poppy. £35m they raised last year for a very good cause.

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

What's it all about? Some sort of conscience cleansing? Maybe we needn't concern ourselves too much with the madness in Afghanistan so long as we wear our poppies for as long as possible to show how much we "care".

Meanwhile the French deal with Armistice Day by taking a day off work. Which is nice.

[Bing o]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Even British people miles from the UK.

So should I wear one to remember the sacrifices my grand fathers made in the Wars? Or not?

[strudel]

1st Nov - 11th Nov/ Remembrance Sunday I thought?

[Eric Mc]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Yup - it used to be Poppy Day. 11 November. WW1 Armistice Day. With Remembrance Sunday falling close by. I make a small donation each year although I choose not to take a poppy. £35m they raised last year for a very good cause.

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

What's it all about? Some sort of conscience cleansing? Maybe we needn't concern ourselves too much with the madness in Afghanistan so long as we wear our poppies for as long as possible to show how much we "care".

Meanwhile the French deal with Armistice Day by taking a day off work. Which is nice.

It's a relatively newish phenomenion but a good one, I think.

Makes people far more aware of the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces. And it's not just to do with WW1 anymore either. It as much to do with all the modern conflicts too and, I would hope, the almost "forgotten" conflict of Northern Ireland.

[dandarez]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Yup - it used to be Poppy Day. 11 November. WW1 Armistice Day. With Remembrance Sunday falling close by. I make a small donation each year although I choose not to take a poppy. £35m they raised last year for a very good cause.

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

What's it all about? Some sort of conscience cleansing? Maybe we needn't concern ourselves too much with the madness in Afghanistan so long as we wear our poppies for as long as possible to show how much we "care".

Meanwhile the French deal with Armistice Day by taking a day off work. Which is nice.

Conscience cleansing? Probably.
Tradition cleansing? Highly probable.

Change something without consultation, see if it's accepted... go down the road a bit further each time.
Even works with novelties: eg: Easter eggs ...on sale at Christmas.
Bonfire 'night'? Fireworks... progressed very well, now on sale all year round.
Xmas goodies? ready as the first leaves of Autumn drop. You can go on and on.

Somewhere along the line, we let this country slip, big time. And like a host of things, it continues and continues... we just let it happen without a whimper.

As for us be like the French? Take a day off!!
Or for that matter, like other countries when a disaster happens, be 'given' a day off to mourn?
You must be kidding! We'd be blasted by how many 'working hours' and 'money' had been lost.
Take a day off? Heaven forbid!
Not a chance in Ol' Blighty.

[dandarez]

Eric Mc said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

Yup - it used to be Poppy Day. 11 November. WW1 Armistice Day. With Remembrance Sunday falling close by. I make a small donation each year although I choose not to take a poppy. £35m they raised last year for a very good cause.

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

What's it all about? Some sort of conscience cleansing? Maybe we needn't concern ourselves too much with the madness in Afghanistan so long as we wear our poppies for as long as possible to show how much we "care".

Meanwhile the French deal with Armistice Day by taking a day off work. Which is nice.

It's a relatively newish phenomenion but a good one, I think.

Makes people far more aware of the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces. And it's not just to do with WW1 anymore either. It as much to do with all the modern conflicts too and, I would hope, the almost "forgotten" conflict of Northern Ireland.

Yes, you can say it's a newish phenomenon, and you may think it's a good one. But like many things, it happens without consultation. Who decides this? More importantly, why?

To get you 'conditioned' to conflict?

[MentalSarcasm]

I've only seen TV people wearing them since yesterday, which IIRC was the day that they had their nationwide launch for this years campaign. Maybe they did it like that this year to get the weekend in? If you launch it on the 1st then that's a Monday this year and you miss out on a whole weekend of people doing their shopping who are likely to see a poppy seller in the street/at the supermarket and buy one.

[Bullett]

It's a lot like competitive grieving. I blame princess Di.
Everyone wants to be seen as more sympathetic, more aware, more compassionate than the next bloke.
Hence the escalation of wearing poppies in October 1 minutes silence becoming 2, 3, minutes silence.

I support the Poppies btw, I just don't often wear one although I do donate. No one has any business knowing what charities I support (wrist bands, stickers, poppies) it a bit like wearing a big blingy watch just to impress other people, not to support the charity.

[MX7]

BBC criticised for early Remembrance poppies

I don't think it matters what they do. Poppies too early, and they get slated. No poppies, and they will be branded uncaring.

October 30th. is the official date, so I don't see a problem.

[Kermit power]

Ozzie Osmond said:

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

Why should it matter?

So long as people are making a donation for their poppies, what possible harm can there be in people wearing them earlier?

As for having any sort of issue with British people wearing them miles from the UK, WTF??? Are you seriously suggesting we should keep our remembrance within our national boundaries or something?

I will do this year as I do every year and bung a couple of notes into the tin of the first collector I see in Waterloo on my way through the station, and then wear it on my suit until Remembrance Sunday wherever I happen to be.

Every time I've done so on overseas business trips, I've been asked what it's for. The answer (including how they're made and by whom) invariably gets an extremely positive reaction, along with musing on why they don't have something similar for remembrance in their country.

[Eric Mc]

dandarez said:

Eric Mc said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

Yup - it used to be Poppy Day. 11 November. WW1 Armistice Day. With Remembrance Sunday falling close by. I make a small donation each year although I choose not to take a poppy. £35m they raised last year for a very good cause.

But what's this? Now it seems nobody dares to appear on TV for 2 or 3 weeks beforehand without the obligatory poppy stuck on their clothes. Even British people miles from the UK.

What's it all about? Some sort of conscience cleansing? Maybe we needn't concern ourselves too much with the madness in Afghanistan so long as we wear our poppies for as long as possible to show how much we "care".

Meanwhile the French deal with Armistice Day by taking a day off work. Which is nice.

It's a relatively newish phenomenion but a good one, I think.

Makes people far more aware of the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces. And it's not just to do with WW1 anymore either. It as much to do with all the modern conflicts too and, I would hope, the almost "forgotten" conflict of Northern Ireland.

Yes, you can say it's a newish phenomenon, and you may think it's a good one. But like many things, it happens without consultation. Who decides this? More importantly, why?

To get you 'conditioned' to conflict?

I am not bothered with being consulted on most things. Life is busy enough without me having to cope with my opinion being sought on what is, after all, a fairly minor cultural change.
No one person decided it I bet. It just happened - like many changes in society.

On this occasion, the result is something rather positive for a change - so I'm not going to knock it.

On the subject of national boundaries, I would assume that most of the Commonwealth countries, especially the English speaking ones, have British Legion chapters where poppies are sold.
Indeed, one non-Commonwealth country (the Republic of Ireland) has its own branches of the Royal British Legion and poppies have always been for sale in Ireland, both North and South of the border.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 29th October 12:55

[Frankeh]

Saw them wearing poppies on newsnight last night... I had to check my calendar.
The week leading up to it, sure. It's a bit early at the moment though.

I guess I'll dig mine out of the draw.

[ewenm]

Just bought one today - no doubt I'll lose it before the 11th

[Eric Mc]

Frankeh said:

Saw them wearing poppies on newsnight last night... I had to check my calendar.
The week leading up to it, sure. It's a bit early at the moment though.

I guess I'll dig mine out of the draw.

Do you have to draw lots to decide if you are going to wear a poppy then?

Assuming you really meant DRAWER, is not the point of the exercise that you are supposed to buy a new poppy (or more) each year?

[oyster]

MX7 said:

BBC criticised for early Remembrance poppies

I don't think it matters what they do. Poppies too early, and they get slated. No poppies, and they will be branded uncaring.

October 30th. is the official date, so I don't see a problem.

Why should they get slated for either though? That's the whole problem - this concept of 'being seen' to be caring rather than actually caring. I too think it's the Diana effect again.

[MX7]

oyster said:

MX7 said:

BBC criticised for early Remembrance poppies

I don't think it matters what they do. Poppies too early, and they get slated. No poppies, and they will be branded uncaring.

October 30th. is the official date, so I don't see a problem.

Why should they get slated for either though? That's the whole problem - this concept of 'being seen' to be caring rather than actually caring. I too think it's the Diana effect again.

I agree that they shouldn't get slated, but people have been proud to wear a poppy long before Diana died. It's nothing to do with her.

[Eric Mc]

The UK is densely packed with moaners and complainers who see nothing good or beneficial in ANYTHING.

Heightened awareness of Poppy Day and the Royal British Legion resulted in a record £37 million being collected during the 2009 Poppy Appeal period.

A few years ago there was a serious danger that The Royal British Legion would fold.

[Frankeh]

Eric Mc said:

Frankeh said:

Saw them wearing poppies on newsnight last night... I had to check my calendar.
The week leading up to it, sure. It's a bit early at the moment though.

I guess I'll dig mine out of the draw.

Do you have to draw lots to decide if you are going to wear a poppy then?

Assuming you really meant DRAWER, is not the point of the exercise that you are supposed to buy a new poppy (or more) each year?

It was a joke and yes I meant drawer. I always pronounce it draw.

[Eric Mc]

Frankeh said:

Eric Mc said:

Frankeh said:

Saw them wearing poppies on newsnight last night... I had to check my calendar.
The week leading up to it, sure. It's a bit early at the moment though.

I guess I'll dig mine out of the draw.

Do you have to draw lots to decide if you are going to wear a poppy then?

Assuming you really meant DRAWER, is not the point of the exercise that you are supposed to buy a new poppy (or more) each year?

It was a joke and yes I meant drawer. I always pronounce it draw.

Skipped elocution lessons when you were a kid, I suppose.

[Frankeh]

Eric Mc said:

Frankeh said:

Eric Mc said:

Frankeh said:

Saw them wearing poppies on newsnight last night... I had to check my calendar.
The week leading up to it, sure. It's a bit early at the moment though.

I guess I'll dig mine out of the draw.

Do you have to draw lots to decide if you are going to wear a poppy then?

Assuming you really meant DRAWER, is not the point of the exercise that you are supposed to buy a new poppy (or more) each year?

It was a joke and yes I meant drawer. I always pronounce it draw.

Skipped elocution lessons when you were a kid, I suppose.

I'm bored of this.