Very few people wearing poppies this year?

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

Anyone else noticed this?

I was in some very busy parts of London today and saw maybe half a dozen people wearing poppies in total. I’m watching Question Time now; the panel are all wearing poppies (the Plaid Cymru representative is wearing a red and a white poppy side-by-side) and at a glance I’d say less than a quarter of people are wearing them.

Is this primarily because of Gaza or did the trend start a while ago? Are people who used to wear poppies now choosing not to? I know this probably sounds very journalisty but I’m not, I promise. I’m really struck by what feels like a dramatic cultural shift in the last ten years or so.

People have more things to worry about than wearing a poppy.
It doesn't represent what it once used to either, it's very outdated now

Outdated? Respecting those that died is outdated?

You can respect someone that has died without wearing a poppy ffs

What's gaza got to do with it?

Mine keeps falling off.

Pretty much what @EduCated said. I'm so fed up with the poppy police & the ridiculous overload of poppy displays everywhere - most of which look utterly naff - and so it feels like it has lost the meaning of a quiet, symbolic display of remembrance. It used to be that no one wore one until the first of November, and the only public displays were wreaths.

That said, I'm recuperating at home after an accident, so can't comment on whether or not people are still wearing them out & about!

I think they’re probably just dying out as a fad. I’ve not seen one anywhere this year but then I shop online so where would I? Also what does it actually mean? I’m not sure what I’d be contributing too these days. Like everything it’s not going to last forever

Don’t you ever find yourself noticing things? Not just poppies - when every other woman was wearing that Zara dress, for example. Once I’ve noticed something I notice it more, and I’m interested in testing my own confirmation bias.

I’m not usually walking round on the streets anymore (apart from very locally) or shopping in person at big retailers, so don’t bump into the sellers anymore. If I did, I probably wouldn’t have change.

My post was laden with judgement as to why you bother posting such an irrelvant and pointless sentence. I think it is interesting as the war veterans are venerated every single year and if there is a decline in the display of poppies which denotes this veneration, then that is a topic of social interest. OK?

Can you really describe something that has been going since 1921 a fad? The ice bucket challenge was a fad.

Many volunteer poppy sellers are afraid that they will be assaulted so have decided not to man stalls in the stations.
https://inews.co.uk/news/poppy-sellers-missing-pro-palestinian-protest-chaos-2738806

@Rainbowx90
What do you think it used to represent that it doesn’t represent any longer?
How can acknowledging some gratitude for those who’ve made enormous sacrifices for our freedom be “outdated” ??
<confused>

I've not worn one in years. I think the government should adequately provide for soldiers who've chosen to go into the military. It's different from 10/20 years ago when there were still survivors from the world wars and who were conscripted. That's my thinking anyway, not sure if that's representative of what other people think.
I still acknowledge actual remembrance though and say a prayer for those fallen.

It's nothing to do with Gaza. It's to commemorate those who gave their lives for our freedom.to wear or not wear a poppy. Stop trying to start a bunfight

@Alifestylechoice
please take a few moments to brush up on a bit of basic history

I have a donation but I don’t want to wear one.

I was selling poppies today, lots of people bought something. I had a card reader supplied to take card donations. I reckon it was 50/50 cash to card ratio.

The government will keep sending men to fight wars and we will still be left with the bill and the emotional blackmail for the maimed and traumatised vets.

It is outdated. Wearing a poppy is outdated. The younger generation quite frankly don't really care about it, I'm in my 30's and to be quite honest I'm not that bothered by it all and many of my peers feel exactly the same. It's shoved down our throats every year, questioned if you aren't wearing one, massive tacky displays everywhere. You don't have to wear a poppy to show your gratitude. You can quietly do so without letting every Tom, Dick and Harry know.
There are bigger and more important things going on in the world right now than wearing a bit of paper and plastic on your clothes.

Wearing a poppy while our government is cheering on thousands of children dying does seem a little futile, hypocritical and pointless. All the Tories on telly wearing them while justifying killing babies is a bit much. Never forget, my arse.

And I do wonder when people's private act of remembrance seems to have so much to do with a) performing remembrance for others and b) judging people for not doing it properly. No one needs a special bit of paper to show other people you are properly remembering.

I'd only ever wear a white poppy (for peace) because I don't support war or conflict. This year is no different to any other.

With respect, there are those who feel that poppies glorify war (hence the white poppy) and that they are inappropriate at the moment. I can’t remember if there was a similar national mood during the second Iraq war.

As I have already said, I am interested in shifting behaviours and norms. I’m not looking for a bunfight.

It used to be that no one wore one until the first of November, and the only public displays were wreaths

I wear a poppy only in November - but the RBL has launched the campaign 3 weeks ahead of Remembrance Sunday for many years now.

And the online Poppy Shop is open year round for those who prefer to shop online

I'm wearing a wristband rather than a poppy (as I can't lose/destroy that) but it's probably not obvious when I've got mu coat on (though I suppose an awful lot of poppies aren't worn on outer coats anyhow)

That’s so sad

I buy one of the little poppy badges every year to wear - usually there is a stall set up selling all kinds of poppy stuff, bages, zip pulls, wristbands etc, in the supermarket and the shopping centre in town. I haven't seen any of those stalls this year, the only poppies I've seen for sale have been the paper ones on the end of the checkout and I didn't have any spare change to buy one. I've deliberately put a few pounds in my coat pocket and I'm hoping I can buy one tomorrow somewhere .