I don’t wear a poppy
I don't wear a poppy, a red one or a white one, but I don't mind if you do. And I understand why you do, and I respect your decision.
I won't be deliberately silent for two minutes at 11am, but I don't mind if you are. And I understand why you will, and I respect your decision to do so. I won't go around talking to you, or bothering you, because I know you want to mark Armistice Day. And that's fine by me.
I won't say nothing on Twitter, because that isn't going to work. Twitter is a vibrant medium with people from many time zones and from many backgrounds taking part. But I don't mind if you want to be quiet on there to show your respects. I will probably avoid the whole place, to be honest.
I know that everyone's trying to do the right thing - and so am I. I know there are loads of reasons for people wanting to mark today as a special day, and I totally understand; it's just that I am not going to. This doesn't mean I don't respect people who have died fighting for their country, or in any conflict whether as a participant or as a victim, because I do. It just means that I won't be joining in.
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Hello. I'm a Bristol-based writer and soon-to-be-redundant journalist. You can read more about me and the Enemies site here, or follow me on Twitter. Email me if you like - antonvowl at live dot co dot uk
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November 11th, 2010 - 10:05
Spot on Mr Vowl. I can’t see how anyone can argue with a reasoned stance on Armistice Day – it’s a matter of choice.
Personally, I’ll be marking it, but it’s no odds to me if you don’t. It’s not compulsory, despite what the Red Tops would have you believe.
November 11th, 2010 - 10:16
Well, that’s a bit fucking reasonable. This is still the internet, right?
Fair play Mr Vowl. FWIW I will be wearing a Poppy and respecting those who choose not to.
November 11th, 2010 - 10:20
i mark it, because it means something to me, my dad fought in the falklands and his ship was bombed, he saw a lot of people die. i am a pacifist and i disagree with what they died for, but i mark it because it means something to my family. but that is my personal choice, my personal situation. your choice is different from mine, and that’s fine too.
November 11th, 2010 - 10:39
Agree. I wear a poppy, and it’s my decision. If other people choose not to, that’s up to them. People that look to impose their views – whatever they are – miss the point. Surely in the 21st century there is room for rational discussion and the ability to agree to differ!
November 11th, 2010 - 10:52
You clearly haven’t said anything in the least bit objectionable to anybody. Perhaps I’m only confused because since school I have never been anywhere that a two minutes silence or poppy wearing was enforced or even expected. It has always been a personal choice and I thought that was (outside of government office) the norm.
Given that that has been my experience and that I’ve only ever witnessed: recognition (sincere or otherwise), forgetful non-recognition (often my own), or general ambivalence before it is hard not to be curious as to why.
I’m curious especially since there are so many different and valid interpretations of Armistice day almost none of which glorify the loss or war which would be the most obvious reason.
November 11th, 2010 - 10:53
by confused I meant confused by why you would feel the need to write these points down since they seem self evident
November 11th, 2010 - 11:29
I have family who died in both world wars. I respect what they did. But I won’t be wearing a poppy either.
November 11th, 2010 - 13:04
OK so we know you wont be joining in – but you haven’t given a single reason why not.
Surely that would make a better post.
November 11th, 2010 - 13:05
You’re more than welcome to write a better post yourself.
November 11th, 2010 - 13:11
I won’t, but I’d refer to this post over at Lib Con
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/11/11/remembrance-day-and-pacifism/
November 11th, 2010 - 13:22
Well fine, but that wasn’t what I was trying to do. I was just trying to pre-empt any silliness towards people who ‘dared’ to breach the silence. Like this:
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/846891-alan-sugar-sparks-twitter-outcry-after-failing-to-observe-two-minute-silence
November 11th, 2010 - 14:41
I don’t wear a poppy, but I’m a lot more vocal about it than you
November 11th, 2010 - 15:07
I really don’t mind people not wearing / buying red poppies. But the white ones drive me crackers – it’s the worst kind of middle-class “look at me, I’m such a rebel” nonsense, right up there with that woman who wrote a column for yesterday’s Guardian about how she wants to get divorced because all married people are smug.
November 14th, 2010 - 10:42
I fail to see how a campaign started in the 1930s by a working class womens’ organisation can qualify as “middle-class nonsense”.
November 11th, 2010 - 19:39
See, I’ve worn white poppies before, but have got hassle for it. I’d like to be able to show an outwards sign of respect, but I’m not comfortable with the red poppy.
As for the silence, I didn’t do it today, it was my second day at work and it seems people don’t do it there. But it was so freeing. I suffer from chronic anxiety and obsessive thoughts and in previous years the two minutes silence has been horrible for me, it all stems from an entire class getting the giggles in the silence at school because my stomach rumbled so loudly. I feel sick, worry about making a noise and can’t focus on the war dead because keeping the silence itself is to anxiety provoking for me. But today, when I didn’t do the silence, I’ve probably spent more time thinking about those who died and the nature of war and sacrifice, than I ever have done in previous years. Not respecting the silence has probably allowed me to be more respectful to fallen soldiers.
November 12th, 2010 - 00:25
Excellent post, but I’m sure the 228,000 fans of this page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-show-these-poppy-burning-bastards-how-many-people-want-them-deported/107254562676705?v=wall will disagree with you Mr. Vowl.
November 12th, 2010 - 02:39
“I won’t say nothing on Twitter, because that isn’t going to work. Twitter is a vibrant medium with people from many time zones and from many backgrounds taking part. But I don’t mind if you want to be quiet on there to show your respects. I will probably avoid the whole place, to be honest.”
Cringe.
November 12th, 2010 - 08:45
Shrug.
November 12th, 2010 - 17:23
At my friends school, you get a detention if you are found not wearing a poppy on the 11th… WHICH RAGES ME OUT and allows for no personal decision at all… a joke. Also, please post on the poppy-burning/muslim-hating RAGEFEST… I have been going around educating my peers on how ignorant they have been being. It has failed, sadly, they cant look past blind poppy-supporting mindless patriotism…
November 15th, 2010 - 14:04
I don’t wear a poppy because I object to having the object of my remembrance determined for me, and likewise the tone, time, and manner of my remembrance determined for me. To buy one would connect me to acts of memorial, from those at local war memorials to that at the Albert Hall, which are dominated by politicians and the current military. They don’t memorialize soldiers shot as deserters, they don’t memorialize civilian casualties of war. These ceremonies invest any and all future wars with a kind of sublimity which they doesn’t deserve. (Wage war! You will be immortal! You will be remembered!)