If you don’t want to observe two minute silence- don’t be out

Yeah it was always political. After WWI there was a widespread public realisation that the entire slaughter had been pointless which is obviously v bad for future war planning. Armistice Day ceremonies were initially a counter to this, to bring control of the narrative of what happened in WWI back to the generals and politicians, with their assurances that it was a one-off and would never happen again.

It was where I grew up.

That they don’t winge if other people exercise their fought for freedom of choice and not maintain the silence.

Let’s face it @taxguru, if I said the sky is blue your immediate response would be “Rubbish”.

Complete rubbish. I've been going to our local football club matches for 40 years. It's ALWAYS been marked at the nearest home game to Remembrance Sunday by a small armed forces parade, playing of the bugle and 2 minutes silence.

It was also observed at UK airports. We twice went on holiday in the 90s on Remembrance day, and the whole airport stopped and went silent at 11am. I know it was the 90s because we've never been on a foreign winter holiday since our son was born in 2002!

I also remember it being held in shopping centres and supermarkets virtually continuously back as far as I remember.

To say it was "barely marked" until 2014 simply isn't true.

It was barely marked at all from the 1970s until 2014 when there was a huge revival of interest.

I don't remember it ever falling into abeyance. In fact, if anything, last year and this I have noticed far less fuss of the sort that saw TV presenters named and shamed for not wearing, or wearing the wrong sort of, poppies.

I’m not sure what point you thought I was making, the point is that if we’d not defeated the Nazis then we would have to be silent for stuff like this, we would be subject to way more than hard stares if we didn’t toe the line.

It was always about patriotism and remembrance, with the political class greatly involved in the commemoration. It’s more in line now with the way it was when I was a child. It fell into abeyance for several decades before being revived as the WWl centenaries arrived.

But pressuring people in this way - well, Remembrance Sunday used to be a measure of peoples' disgust at the political classes for failing to prevent a totally unnecessary war that left a generation of young European men dead or damaged. Now, it is all about patriotism, nationalism and the kind of shallow, showy conformance that allows dodgy ideas to breed.

Yes, being quiet for 2 minutes is exactly the same as mandating people to burn other people in ovens.

"Can’t see anyone shouting for fags during a state mandated silence in Nazi Germany"

Can you not see the irony in this? Expecting people to behave as if they were in Nazi Germany? Used as an argument for remembering the people who died to save us from living in a Nazi Germany satellite state?

Yes. They're the ones who get annoyed at being told that, for two minutes once a year, they've got to stop what they're doing and shut up and try hard to pretend to thin about what it is we're supposed to not forget.

They're the ones who think about this stuff, off and on, when the occasion causes them to, all year round.

Stupid is as stupid does...

I mean, if we're all going to use hackneyed and illiterate speak?

Knobs going to knob.
One of the things to be grateful for is that people laid down their lives fighting for a society where people could behave this way. Which is ironic!
Can’t see anyone shouting for fags during a state mandated silence in Nazi Germany

Thing is, shops are actually private places, they're owned and managed by someone, and no one has the absolute right to enter them and use them, shops can and do bar people because there are conditions of entry and use like not stealing, not abusing staff, not trashing the place etc. The bar is usually quite low behaviour wise, but as it's actually private property, you can be banned for any reason they choose (protected characteristics aside).

So if the owners or others on their behalf decide that they're observing the two minutes silence and staff can stop serving to do so, then that's what's going to happen, and you don't have the God given right to be served in that time just because you want to be, or you don't agree with it or anything else. Most places won't insist on you confirming to silence, standing still etc, but you don't automatically have the right to demand the staff serve you because you're a customer in a private space, who has no more rights than the staff when it comes to choosing to observe things like this.

Oh my. We've leapt onto the 'workers have to work!' now. Yes they do. What happened in my local supermarket was that the observing workers stepped two feet away from checkout and all was well. There had been a message over the tannoy about the 2 minute silence.

The mystical 'fag woman' wouldn't have been at checkout anyway, she would have been at the kiosk because that's where the fags are. Any screeching/disruption and security who are close by, would have removed her.

I don't believe for a second that this happened. The fag woman was a useful prop drawn on to elicit righteous indignation and stomping. Objective achieved I think?

Nobody should be focusing on what other people are doing. If they are quietly going about their business then it's absolutely none of yours. Don't get in their way and all will be well.

The post I was replying to wasn’t referring to anyone working. It mentioned to carry on walking, shopping etc.

I personally wouldn’t think I’m so important I need to be served during those 2 minutes, but the reasons I don’t observe the silence are.

Luckily for me, I’ve lived in the same area all my life and I’ve never walked in to a shop where the silence has stopped people serving.

This year my wee boy was playing football with an 11am kick off, there was no silence. There are local services but not a lot of silences etc outside of the specific services.

No one is saying staff shouldn't be free to observe the silence, nor that they should be interrupted while doing so.

But quietly continuing to browse, scrolling on phone etc are all fine, they don't get in anyone else's way. Suggesting that people who do so should have to stay home is not very tolerant. OP still hasn't clarified what she means by unable.

If you're not working and the silence is important to you, then I don't think you'd be in the supermarket at that time. So it's safe to assume that the customers are the ones who aren't overly concerned either way.

I appreciate you may be pissed off at the suggestion that you should stay at home if you don't want to observe, and I would agree with you about that. But to be out and about, actively disrupting it rather than quietly going on with your own business is just ignorant. There's no need for anyone to stay at home if people could just be polite about it.

We've covered that. What about workers who actually have to be there because it's part of their working day? They have the right to a measly 2 minutes of peace and silence and not be disturbed by self obsessed arrogant dickheads who can't wait 2 minutes for their fags!

If you don't want your two minutes' silence disturbed - stay home!

As @PinkSparklyPussyCat said "You do realise that some people have to be in a public place because they are working? They have the right to observe the silence and not be harassed by arseholes who think they are so important they have to be served during those 2 minutes."

If you really don't want your two minutes' silence disturbed - stay home!

You do realise that some people have to be in a public place because they are working? They have the right to observe the silence and not be harassed by arseholes who think they are so important they have to be served during those 2 minutes.