The poppy thread

[Flosshilde]

Or people wanting to find out why you are wearing a white poppy, & discuss the issues it raises? It was the same when I wore a pink triangle.

[Mary Chambers]

I'm sure I can cope!

[amateur51]

Or people wanting to find out why you are wearing a white poppy, & discuss the issues it raises? It was the same when I wore a pink triangle.

Same here Flossie. I used to catch the same train from Blackheath into Charing Cross every morning and one day a man came and sat next to me on the bench as we waited for the train to rumble in and he said out of the corner of his mouth while looking away, "I think you're very brave wearing that on the 07:43 every morning!". And with that he stood up and walked up the platform, leaving me a bit surprised and flustered, and quite proud too :yikes::biggrin:

[Anna]

Today I had my first poppy selling stint. A damp and misty lunch hour but what surprised were the number of people who approached me and said they didn't want a poppy, but just wanted to give me a donation. Now, does this infer that they would have displayed a poppy if it was white? This is a question for Mary really - do the white poppy sellers take to the streets or do you just buy by post and where do the profits (if any) go to?

Apart from that most of the conversations I had were about WW1 and the young men lost, and the current excavations in France of battle sites, not one mention of the present conflict.

[Mary Chambers]

White poppies are sold by the Peace Pledge Union, and I presume any profits go towards their work. I've never seen them for sale in the street, more's the pity, though some shops sell them. I ordered mine online from the PPU. Some people wear them together with a red poppy.

[vinteuil]

White poppies ... . Some people wear them together with a red poppy.

... LibDems, probably :whistle:

[Revelations 3: 16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."]

[MrGongGong]

That's odd because poppies were being sold by a man in uniform with a ww2 machine gun in my high St yesterday ! Anna's experience seems to confirm what many of us feel that the poppy is about ww1 and 2 NOT about dodgy wars for oil

[amateur51]

That comment is so offensive, even by your standards. In case you didn't know there are many soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and, while you and I might disagree with the reason that they are there, they are losing their lives and being maimed. And one of those number was the fiancee of my niece.

It is so easy and cowardly for you to make your constant snide and odious comments from behind the anonymity of the internet. Great shame that we'll never meet but also lucky for you.

Mr GG makes a good point about drones, their anonymity and their lack of accountability. Much Pakistani animosity towards the USA is because of their use.

I'm sorry to hear about your acquaintance's death of course but it adds nothing to the debate, which you seem determined to personalise with insults and to drive 'down market' :sadface:

[MrGongGong]

That comment is so offensive, even by your standards. In case you didn't know there are many soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and, while you and I might disagree with the reason that they are there, they are losing their lives and being maimed. And one of those number was the fiancee of my niece.

It is so easy and cowardly for you to make your constant snide and odious comments from behind the anonymity of the internet. Great shame that we'll never meet but also lucky for you.

My comment wasn't in the least bit disparaging of anyone who is physically "in the line of fire" in a war zone
what I object to is the conflation
and if you want to make threats go ahead ................but try reading what you consider to be offensive first !!!!

and what on earth do you mean by "Third party apologists" ????
It is my business if evil deeds are done in my name
don't be a sucker for the "with us or against us" nonsense

[scottycelt]

Niall Patterson, a reporter on Sky News, summed it all up for me ...

He claimed there were three sections of society whose members were seen to wear the Poppy ... a) those who wish to commemorate all who fell in two world wars, b) those who are in support of our own troops who have fallen in current wars and c) those who wear it simply because they feel pressurised to do so or are instructed by their bosses to do so (TV employees, for example).

Only a) is a genuine reflection of the original idea of the Poppy, imho ...

[Flosshilde]

Questionable, Scotty. The Poppy Appeal raises funds for the Royal British Legion. It's website says that "We help serving and ex-Service personnel and their families. Not just those who fought in the two World Wars, but also those involved in the many conflicts since 1945 and those still fighting today." (http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us), so any attempt to make the poppy signify civilians who have died, or military personnel from all sides of a conflict, is stretching it beyond the stated purpose.

[teamsaint]

Really? I see no evidence of it.

no but lots of other people do see evidence of it.

We have been de sensitised to wars by exporting them to other parts of the world.
We are constantly told by our leaders to support unpopular wars, and then to show " respect" to the people that THEY sentenced to death or maiming.

I don't and won't wear a poppy. I see it as a symbol of support for a government, and policies that I want no part of. If other see it differently that is their business.


I do my own respect to war dead in my terms, in my time.

Not when I am told to by cameron, clegg, or whoever.

[amateur51]

Well said, teamsaint #149 :ok:

[Stillhomewardbound]

The FIFA situation points up what has become a growing commercialisation of the symbol of the Poppy. Alas, it's a brand now, appearing on football etc., and suddenly there's a storm in a tea-cup that never was there before. International fixtures have happened at this time previously without any clamour for 'Remembrance acknowledgement'.

I personally welcome any act of remembrance at this time but I'm uneasy at this kind of coporate profile. It smacks of marketeering (with no end of sponsors hopping on the Poppy coat tails etc.) and the evidence of that, it seemed to me, was Huw Edwards referring to the coming 'Remembrance Weekend'.

Now, I've never had that expression before. Did he get it from Hallmark Cards I wonder?

[Pabmusic]

Alas, it's a brand now...

Yes. My first reaction to the story was 'how petty, the teams can't wear those little paper poppies for a few minutes at the start of the match!' Then I read on, and it seems the poppy would have been embroidered on their shirts. That seems miles away from their being a gesture of remembrance. Next time it'll be a completely redesigned strip, and an attempt to get Fifa to approve a temporary name change to The Royal British Legion England team. No doubt there'll be a premium phone number where we can demonstrate our support for 'our boys' on the pitch in this sombre hour.