wearing a poppy

philatio

Unless my mind is going, I seem to recall that for around 50 years after the end of WW2 nobody seemed that bothered about attacking people who don't wear poppies. Its only in the last 10 years that they're being abused and slagged off.

It's all the medias fault.

paddyrg

Wearing a poppy is A GESTURE. Visiting the cenotaph or similar is also A GESTURE. Neither proves motivation, but both are good symbols of respect. Respect comes from within, not without. The idea that you 'should' wear any kind of mark is terrifying, and against pretty much everything our fallen have fought for over the years.

JReacher1

paddyrg wrote: »

Wearing a poppy is A GESTURE. Visiting the cenotaph or similar is also A GESTURE. Neither proves motivation, but both are good symbols of respect. Respect comes from within, not without. The idea that you 'should' wear any kind of mark is terrifying, and against pretty much everything our fallen have fought for over the years.

Nobody is saying you "should". They are saying if you visit a cenotaph on remembrance Sunday it is respectful to wear a poppy.

It is terrifying that you seem to think that because of the wars that our solders have fought in the last 100 years it means you no longer have to be respectful.

Pollycat

If I'd been at the Cenotaph (wearing my poppy as I have for the last week or so) I'd have found it disrespectful that someone felt it necessary to verbally abuse somebody else for not wearing a poppy.

I'd have probably privately tutted about the non-poppy wearer but I wouldn't have wanted anyone to mar the occasion in that manner.
I would have found it intrusive.

knightstyle

Thanks Pollycat, I will update my info about this.

DandelionPatrol

JReacher1 wrote: »

Nobody is saying you "should". They are saying if you visit a cenotaph on remembrance Sunday it is respectful to wear a poppy.

That is fine. But the problem comes when people falsely construe not wearing a poppy as being disrespectful

JReacher1 wrote: »

It is terrifying that you seem to think that because of the wars that our solders have fought in the last 100 years it means you no longer have to be respectful.

Paddyrg only said that the idea that you SHOULD wear a poppy is terrifying. It is you who is turning that around to suggest that paddyrg is saying something about it being OK to be disrespectful. You are getting close to saying that not wearing a poppy is disrespectful.

I think we can take our lead from the British Legion, whom Pollycat has kindly quoted

We take the view that the poppy represents sacrifices made in the defence of freedom; and so the decision to wear it must be a matter of personal choice. If the poppy became compulsory it would lose its meaning and significance.

I have to say that those who rebuke others for not wearing the poppy are shaving meaning and significance from wearing the poppy with each and every rebuke.

jjj1980

I dont wear a poppy, not out of any disrespect but because I have a real issue with putting pins etc in clothing. I always buy one though and attach it to my bag strap.

However, I would never attend the Cenotaph without having a poppy visibly attached to my clothing.

spend_or_save

I must admit i am suprised that some people think it is more disrespectful to not wear a poppy, while quietly and respectfully paying my respects at the centotaph, than it is to break the silence and verbally abuse someone who is not wearing one.

I am guessing that some people do not appreciate what the poppy can represent in some areas of the country and to some people in the country, i wasn't particularly wanting to go into my reasons for not wearing a poppy, as i personally think it is a choice that should not have to be justified and i am suprised so many find the not wearing of a poppy offensive, seems to be a new phenomenom in the last few years.

However to put things into context, my fathers family is from Derry in NI, i wont go into detail however my fathers family were directly affected by the events of Bloody Sunday and the deaths and injury's caused to the innocent people involved by the British Army, due to these events, and many others that occured in this area and in these times, the symbol of the Poppy to those affected by this has come to mean a differnt thing, different to what it was originally meant to represent and different to what it represents to so many other people.

IMO, due to theese factors, wearing a Poppy does not sit well with me and would indeed be disrespectful to my fathers family and is the reason i do not wear one.

For many others the Poppy has come to represent what they would see as the many illegal wars Britain has taken part in, and is the reason they do not wear one.

Many others have their other differnt reasons for not wearing one.

You do not have to agree with my reasons, or indeed anyone elses reason's for not wearing it, but you should accept it, and not draw the conclusion that it infers some form of disrespect, as far as i am aware paying your respects on Rememberance Sunday does not come with a dress code or is not on condition of wearing a Poppy, IMO those of you who would look disaprovingly at someone paying their respects at the cenotaph without a Poppy, or worse still would ban them from doing so, are showing a lack of understanding to some of the things that have went on in the past, and a lack of respect to those they are naively dissaproving of and also the many who gave their lives to give people the freedom and choice to not be forced to wear a symbol of any kind.

ThumbRemote

I find it strange the way that some people try to make 'respect' fall within their own, tightly controlled parameters. Especially when someone was clearly already showing respect by being at the cenotaph in the first place.

You're not forced to wear a poppy .. but it's disrespectful if you don't and you deserve verbal abuse.

To my mind that seems to be getting pretty close to forcing it.

It reminds me of those Facebook things that go round and round, "take a minute to share this to show you support our armed forces", over and over again. No, not sharing is not the same as not supporting our armed forces. Just like not wearing a poppy is not the same as not showing respect.

George_Michael

IMO, wearing a poppy simply because it's what other people expect you to do and not because you want to is worse than not wearing one.

I could be the most anti-war, anti-armed forces person around, someone who doesn't give a toss about the millions who died protecting this country but if I decided to stick a poppy on my jacket simply to fit in, surely that disrespects those that died so that I would have the freedom to make my own choices.