To expect one's colleagues to respect the 2 minute silence for Armistice Day

[suebfg]

...and not make a phone call in the middle of the office?

How would any of you feel if you were at a hospital appointment or GP appointment or in A&E needing treatment and they decided to stop and od the 2 minutes silence?

I'm not against honouring the dead, I am very much for it, but a two minute silence is quite an artifical way of doing it. There are other ways. It doesn't mean you have no respect for the dead.

I have always been a bit 'meh' about the whole business anyway, but this year there has been so much fuss about it and so much not-very-thinly disguised racism attached to the fuss that I can totally understand someone deciding to go about their business as normal. I think it's really unhealthy that people are getting so frenzied about forcing everyone else to observe the same rituals as they do.

Also, rememberance Sunday hasn't happened yet. It's the day after tomorrow. When you guessed it, there will be the ceremony at the cenotaph and another 2 minutes silence , or 111 seconds silence. Then a big fanfare with gun shots to commerate the dead. You don't know if your colleague will pay his/her respects on Sunday.

I wouldn't care one jot A1980, as long as I wasn't in a life-threatening situation - A&E is a bit different.

I wouldn't care one jot A1980, as long as I wasn't in a life-threatening situation

I'm a solicitor and if I'd had an appointment made for me, I wouldn't tell my client to sit there for two minutes. To do so would be rude. There is another much bigger ceremony on Sunday, we don't need to do it twice!

Sorry, that was to your first point A1980

You wouldn't charge them that 2 minutes surely A1980.

^ I don't charge them anyway, my work is Legal Aid or CFA.

As I said, Sunday is the big one! We don't need to do it twice.

altinkum
I think we are probably saying the same thing , just different (a bit). I mentioned those that "had to get on with life" without thier husband, son etc. Like your gran (and mine) they were victims of the wars too.
However I still believe a 2 minute silence is respectful to those that died, and those that lost and also gives us a moment to reflect on ALL those that suffer from war and loss and ALL those that contributed in whatever way they could to maintain the freedom of this country.

YANBU - but I will say this, it happened to me, many years ago in my office. I wear a poppy, I fully intended to respect the silence that morning at 11am. I got waylaid, up to my eyes in work and took a phone call about 10 minutes prior to the start. No email went out or tannoy as usually happened. I realised probably about 20 seconds into it, made excuses and put the phone down. I was mortified, but there were others that got caught out too. So there is every chance the person in your office meant to observe it, but just got tied up in her work. It happens.

A1980

I had an appointment with a service user and her care-coordinator, I went through to reception when they arrived and said the whole building would be observing the 2 minute silence and I would be with her immediately after. She was fine , didn't find it rude, certainly not as rude as not observing it.

Oh and before it gets said I know the appointment should not have been made for that time in the first place.Unfortunately it was.

They had one for the Queen Mother when she died which I personally didn't want to observe, but I just got on with my work and didn't use the phone - I respected their feelings.

"She was fine , didn't find it rude, certainly not as rude as not observing it."

it isn't rude not to observe it. rude would be deliberately preventing people from observing it themselves. rude would be blowing raspberries in the faces of people observing it. going about your normal work is not rude.

YANBU

It's not about if you support war or not. It makes me seeth when people try and diminish remberence day into nothing more than a political statement . It's about respect. Respect for those who gave thier lives so you and yours could live the life you are loving now.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for those strangers who sacrificed themselves speaking in WWII terms. And although I disagree with the basis of more recent wars, I dont doubt for a second that those out there fighting for something they believe in are made of better people than me. I couldn't put my life on the line like that. Nor could I "let" my husband go to war. I'm not that selfless.

Whether you like it or not you OWE respect to those people for what they did. And you owe thier families who continue to suffer thier loss.

Rant over

Mind you some 'silences' do call for finding the sweariest track in your collection and cranking the volume up as high as possible.

I work in a doctors practice and at 11am the phones were ringing off the hook as usual and patients were coming in and out of the surgery. It was simply not practical to ignore the phones or expect people coming in to the building to know why no one spoke to greet them. It doesn't mean we didn't care or respect the occasion.

OP - I'd guess your colleague just didn't realise the time and carried on with their call without thinking.

booyhoo
You missed my point
That is what the service user said .
I told her that everyone in the building were going to observe the 2 minute silence so I would be a little late for the meeting
she said "Thats fine, it would be rude not to, I want to too"

and her and her coordinator along with lots of other members of the public stood in silence .

YANBU - DS has a regular speech therapy session at 11am on Fridays (but they're usually running a bit late). He's only 3 but has learnt a bit at preschool about the poppies etc. I always observe the silence as my grandad was in the forces.

I explained to him about sitting quietly when we heard the sirens go to signal the start of the silence. We were the only people in the waiting area at the time. DS sat pretty quietly with the occasional whisper but unfortunately all we could hear was several people chatting away in the office (and it was chat, not work related). Due to the layout they couldn't see us or us them. You just get buzzed into the building and collected when it's your appointment. It made me feel more than anything else that they didn't bother to check if anyone even wanted to observe the silence.

I had to call someone today and they took my number then said
'our phone lines are going down for 5 minutes now il call you back at 11.05'

I was abit miffed as needed to speak to someone and said 'right ok fine'

It wasnt until i turned the phone off whilst i was looking at facebook that i reaslised the time adn day....then felt all guilty for getting annoyed!!

People can think about whatever they like during the silence. I thought about those killed, those injured (both physically and mentally) the family and friends. For me my thoughts certainly aren't limited to those who have been killed.

I think the important distinction here is if a decision has been taken for the whole office/shop/whatever to take part in a silence or not. If that decision has been taken you should sit quietly even if you just think about what is for tea that night. If that decision hasn't been made then it's up to people to stop or not as they please.

YANBU, and how does 'thinly disguised racism' come into it, solidgoldvampirebat?