Do you wear a poppy?

Dual wrote:Other than on the internets are people actually witnessing members of the public demanding you to wear a Poppy?

Yep, it’s happened to me a few times in real life.

Glowy69 wrote:Farage, Robinson, Hopkins, Britain First have butchered the meaning of the poppy, so many think its a "british" thing its scary, not that millions died in 2 conflicts and that they were pawns in peoples war games.

Yeah, I wonder where people got the idea that a poppy for the Royal British Legion was a British thing.

Mostly just crazy political types in newspapers, which is relief. Thankfully the general public are more sensible. I think the controversy on this is stirred but by a few agitators. Like I said, it's a symbol for a charity. Only extreme nationalistic types project their beliefs onto it and they should be ignored.

Knoyleo wrote:

Glowy69 wrote:Farage, Robinson, Hopkins, Britain First have butchered the meaning of the poppy, so many think its a "british" thing its scary, not that millions died in 2 conflicts and that they were pawns in peoples war games.

Yeah, I wonder where people got the idea that a poppy for the Royal British Legion was a British thing.

Hardly gonna be the royal dutch legion in england is it. I mean that people wear it thinking its a symbol for britain, some sort of patriotic symbol.

It isn't.

Meep wrote:Mostly just crazy political types in newspapers, which is relief. Thankfully the general public are more sensible. I think the controversy on this is stirred but by a few agitators. Like I said, it's a symbol for a charity. Only extreme nationalistic types project their beliefs onto it and they should be ignored.

Really?

Moggy wrote:The only disagreement I would have with the Poppy itself is that it shouldn’t be necessary. Our government should be making sure that veterans have all of the care they need...

For me, rememberance isn’t just the financial aid aspect for the living victims of war; it is a way of showing respect to the people who lost their lives, too. Personally, when doing so I don’t think of the validity of war or government decisions or folk who get upset about wearing or not wearing a poppy.

Meep, I just saw your post as I was gonna hit send so excuse the short response... but the poppy support is for the victims of all war, not just older wars - and it’s not really commemorating war but recognising the impacts.

Moggy wrote:

Dual wrote:Other than on the internets are people actually witnessing members of the public demanding you to wear a Poppy?

Yep, it’s happened to me a few times in real life.

I suppose suggesting the Poppy is designed to be above politics and religion is lost on these bozos.

I would prefer people wear it for the right reasons and take it back from those who would try to politicise it. Ultimately I know why I wear one and that's all that matters really.

jawafour wrote:

Moggy wrote:The only disagreement I would have with the Poppy itself is that it shouldn’t be necessary. Our government should be making sure that veterans have all of the care they need...

For me, rememberance isn’t just the financial aid aspect for the living victims of war; it is a way of showing respect to the people who lost their lives, too. Personally, when doing so I don’t think of the validity of war or government decisions or folk who get upset about wearing or not wearing a poppy.

I know that, that’s why the only part of it I might have any disagreement with is the financial side. Anybody sent off to war (especially in the days of conscription!) should have their needs met afterwards.

What they do is good and I agree entirely with the actual meaning behind and the good it does.

However I think the symbol has been highjacked and continues to be by racist banana splits that see it as meaning "I luv my cuntry!" Patriotism isn't inheriantly bad but it is used to justify a lot of gooseberry fool by these pricks and they see wearing a poppy and patriotism as one and the same.

Errkal wrote:What they do is good and I agree entirely with the actual meaning behind and the good it does.

However I think the symbol has been highjacked and continues to be by racist banana splits that see it as meaning "I luv my cuntry!" Patriotism isn't inheriantly bad but it is used to justify a lot of gooseberry fool by these pricks and they see wearing a poppy and patriotism as one and the same.

A relatively small proportion of stupid people do indeed try to hijack the poppy appeal and twist it to project their own racist beliefs. But it’s just that... relatively small. Why let them impact your own thoughts and actions? The majority of folk aren’t wearing a poppy to promote war or glorify government decisions to enter war.

I just find the wearing of any symbol in such a manner rather odd. I wonder the same way about those who wear flag pins, party political badges, car stickers. I don’t believe these are aesthetic choices, so why the need to make an ostentatious display of allegiance?

I’m happy to donate to the charity, and I know what I have done, I don’t need anything else. People should be free to wear and not wear what they want, and we leave each other to it.

jawafour wrote:

Errkal wrote:What they do is good and I agree entirely with the actual meaning behind and the good it does.

However I think the symbol has been highjacked and continues to be by racist banana splits that see it as meaning "I luv my cuntry!" Patriotism isn't inheriantly bad but it is used to justify a lot of gooseberry fool by these pricks and they see wearing a poppy and patriotism as one and the same.

A relatively small proportion of stupid people do indeed try to hijack the poppy appeal and twist it to project their own racist beliefs. But it’s just that... relatively small. Why let them impact your own thoughts and actions? The majority of folk aren’t wearing a poppy to promote war or glorify government decisions to enter war.

Because it’s impossible to ignore the actions of those idiots when the papers, online comments and people in real life continue to promote the Poppy as one of the ways to prove your Britishness.

I would never criticise anybody for wearing a Poppy, but I absolutely will not wear one while we still have people demanding others wear them.

Moggy's right enough. The absolute castigation of James McClean every time the issue comes up is quite upsetting, even if he is a bit of a tool.

I think it comes down to a bit of tribalism, ultimately. People feel the need to be part of something that's bigger than them, and put their chosen cause on a pedestal. They feel better about themselves and superior to others because they have made the "right," political choice, are wearing the "correct" symbol of remembrance, or have chosen the "superior" football team to support.

I'm not for one second claiming that all wearers of the poppy or politically minded people are doing so for this reason, but I suspect a lot of the more ostentatious supporters absolutely are.

I'm guilty of it myself of course. I hate the Rangers after all.

Moggy wrote:Because it’s impossible to ignore the actions of those idiots when the papers, online comments and people in real life continue to promote the Poppy as one of the ways to prove your Britishness.

I would never criticise anybody for wearing a Poppy, but I absolutely will not wear one while we still have people demanding others wear them.

Moggy, there will always be bands of people who will try and twist or contort things to suit their own beliefs and desires. Yes, some folk will present the poppy as a simple of racism and war. But, let’s face it, they’re stupid. We all know that. Try not to let a small proportion of people have a large impact on your own thoughts and actions.

jawafour wrote:

Moggy wrote:Because it’s impossible to ignore the actions of those idiots when the papers, online comments and people in real life continue to promote the Poppy as one of the ways to prove your Britishness.

I would never criticise anybody for wearing a Poppy, but I absolutely will not wear one while we still have people demanding others wear them.

Moggy, there will always be bands of people who will try and twist or contort things to suit their own beliefs and desires. Yes, some folk will present the poppy as a simple of racism and war. But, let’s face it, they’re stupid. We all know that. Try not to let a small proportion of people have a large impact on your own thoughts and actions.

When (on more than one occasion) you get some meathead coming up to you demanding to know “where’s your strawberry floating Poppy”, it’s hard to stop it having an impact on your thoughts and actions.

The vile abuse of TV presenters and (as Cora) mentioned footballers who dare (or just forget!) not to wear one is also hard to ignore. Racist twats are currently abusing Moen Ali (the cricketer) for not wearing a Poppy, even though it’s been explained to them that his fell off.

If I was to wear one now, after personal experience of arseholes verbally abusing me, I would feel it was just appeasing the far right banana splits that have ruined what should be a simple act of remembrance.

Wear one if you want, it’s a great cause, but it’s not for me and I will not be wearing one ever again.

I don't really like wearing a poppy as I think reducing the horrors of war to a single cutesy symbol will inevitably lead to that symbol being subverted by groups who want to glorify war. But I will still wear one if everyone else I'm working with does because I want to fit in.



My office at the moment are unlikely to be bothered about the poppy, so I should be able to avoid it this year.

jawafour wrote:

Moggy wrote:Because it’s impossible to ignore the actions of those idiots when the papers, online comments and people in real life continue to promote the Poppy as one of the ways to prove your Britishness.

I would never criticise anybody for wearing a Poppy, but I absolutely will not wear one while we still have people demanding others wear them.

Moggy, there will always be bands of people who will try and twist or contort things to suit their own beliefs and desires. Yes, some folk will present the poppy as a simple of racism and war. But, let’s face it, they’re stupid. We all know that. Try not to let a small proportion of people have a large impact on your own thoughts and actions.

It's not a small proportion of people. Every year since about 2014, the papers run a sensational story about James McClean's refusal to wear a poppy. A quick google tells me The Independent ran an updated version of the story twelve minutes ago. McClean is booed by supporters of his own club for his choice. It's a particular issue amongst those affected by the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland* - The Green Brigade were the subjects of criticism for flying an admittedly quite crude protest banner before a match against St Mirren in 2010 against Celtic wearing poppies.

The abuse received by Charlene White in 2013 - racist and sexist - and the fallout from that event showed that
It isn't uncommon. An article in the Guardian from 2013 on this subject notes a Labour MP shaming google for not putting a "spectacular" enough banner on their homepage on Remembrance Sunday.

Until public shaming and criticisms like that stop, I don't feel comfortable wearing the poppy. Happy to support charities like the Erskine Care Homes, though.

*I have no stance on this personally, by the way. I don't know what it was like over there save from second and third hand stories that my uncle told about serving in NI.

Moggy wrote:When (on more than one occasion) you get some meathead coming up to you demanding to know “where’s your strawberry floating Poppy”, it’s hard to stop it having an impact on your thoughts and actions...

It’s a real shame that you don’t feel that you can wear a poppy because of your experiences and abusive cases that you have read about, Moggy. I am genuinely surprised that you have faced so much vitriol about wearing and not wearing a poppy. In my neck of the woods (south London) I have found these instances (both for and against) to be fairly rare - albeit one case is still too many - and people appear to be pretty free to make a choice either way. I am not suggesting that things aren’t different elsewhere, of course. I’d hate to think that extremists - at either end - could stop people from doing what they wanted to do.

None of my jackets have lapels.

I'm going to wear an over the top, gaudy, extravagant poppy for the next month just to show I care more than any of you.