If you were pressure-washing your car...

[somelemons]

...on Remembrance Sunday, and you looked up and saw all your neighbours in the entire street standing outside their houses observing the two-minute silence at 11am, would you:

A - stop what you are doing and join in?

B - stop what you are doing, out of respect for your neighbours, and go indoors for a few minutes, and carry on washing your car later?

C - carry on blasting away at your alloy wheels and ruining the silence for everyone?

Guess what my neighbour did this morning?

Is it usual for neighbours to go into the street for the 2 min silence? Never heard of this.

Was everyone meant to go outside

It's what people were asked to do this year instead of all the Remembrance Sunday services, which have had to be cancelled.

I'd wonder why they were outside

@Arielsgift

I'd wonder why they were outside

Really? All standing there in silence, wearing poppies?

Boris didn't tell us to go outside did he, he seems to be the one telling us what to do.

@somelemons
Well, like previous posters said, never heard of anyone doing it

I wouldn’t have expected to see my neighbours all lined up outside their houses so would have been taken aback. I’d probably have continued as
a) it’s a wet messy job and you are best doing it in one go
b) it would look like an empty gesture to scuttle inside once I’d twigged as I’d clearly been oblivious
c) unless I was playing music out loud or singing, it wouldn’t assume the neighbours would be rendered unable to observe the two minute silence because of the sound of water

I’ve never heard of this, usually people just stop what they are doing where they are don’t they? Unless they are attending a service or their local war memorial.

Nothing seems to count anymore unless it’s visible. You have to plaster fb with stuff about loving your own children or partner; share memes about hating cancer (because the rest of us love it), and now stand mournfully outside your house on Remembrance Sunday in full sight of the neighbours whilst noting archly the absence of them at No.9 and quivering with indignation with the woman washing her fucking car!

There could be a number of reasons why she or he didn’t observe the silence. I usually do but have occasionally totally forgotten. It’s not the law and it’s not hurting you or he rest of the neighbours.

Oh god, is this another thing. I had two lots of neighbours cleaning their cars at 11am , it pissed me off as surely one of them could have offered to do mine. Selfish fuckers.

For all of you saying you've never heard of this before - well it hasn't happened before. We haven't had a Remembrance Sunday during a global pandemic before, have we?

And have you any idea how loud a pressure washer is in a small cul-de-sac?

Exactly how he could miss all (and I mean all) his neighbours, around 30 of us, standing there is beyond me. It just shows that he has total contempt for the feelings of his local community.

D) maybe he didn’t notice

OP how did they know to stand outside, was it a memo or tweet from Boris?

Why didn’t someone have a word with him before it started to ask him to pause?

It just shows that he has total contempt for the feelings of his local community.

No. It doesn't.

Did the "they sacrificed for our freedom" message of Remembrance Sunday pass you by?

Or they could just be completely oblivious? Despite reminding myself in the morning, I have carried on oblivious to a two minute silence simply because I was engrossed in what I was doing. And if that’s the case, then no, I’m not going to take notice of what anyone else is doing. No malice or point intended!

It just shows that he has total contempt for the feelings of his local community.

That's your spin on it.

Ignorant git.

Obviously he should have stopped what he was doing & observed the two minutes of silence.

Standing on your doorstep was fairly well publicised on the news etc. So I'm not sure how people 'didn't get the memo' but even if they didn't, it's Remembrance Day, some respect doesn't go a miss.

@WhentheDealGoesDown

OP how did they know to stand outside, was it a memo or tweet from Boris?

No.

It was one of our neighbours who co-ordinated it, along with our town council on facebook, and the local fire brigade.

@UpperLowercaseSymbolNumber

Why didn’t someone have a word with him before it started to ask him to pause?

If they'd realised he wasn't going to stop, they probably would have done.

@user17163254865

It just shows that he has total contempt for the feelings of his local community.

No. It doesn't.

Did the "they sacrificed for our freedom" message of Remembrance Sunday pass you by?

I said that rather than mentioning 'the Fallen' because it was his local community, ie his neighbours, that he was directly affecting. Whether you believe in observing the silence or not, you don't piss on your own doorstep.

And thanks, @WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants - at least someone gets it.

It was on the BBC news website that the Royal British Legion were asking people to stand outside as parades were not possible.

People can remember without doing it publically.

No one stood on doorsteps here. It's an Army camp. I was actually helping my DDs make clay poppies at 11am... They ask to do poppy craft every year. First year since toddlerhood they haven't been at a parade. Special assembly at school on Wednesday. On Tuesday they will do something with Cubs (via Zoom).

Maybe he forgot. Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he was rude. But not standing around doesn't automatically mean disrespect.

We did this in our area. We had a bugle at the war memorial and wreaths were laid, but people were encouraged to stand at their doors rather than gathering by the memorial.

It's important to many people, so while I understand not everyone will mark the occasion it would be considerate if they didn't prevent other people from doing so.

We were streaming a service, but the constant parade of cars meant that we couldn't hear the names being read out. It was a shame, but inevitable. No one disturbed it deliberately.

He probably should have stopped as it was noisy but he’s under no obligation whatsoever to join in

I’d also have wondered what you were all doing and probably wouldn’t have even known the time if I was busy. People,can remember in a way that suits them, you don’t get to dictate.