To ask if anyone in rl has ever actually met anyone who is 'offended by a poppy?

[Whatsername17]

My Facebook feed is full of memes declaring that people are going to 'wear their poppy with pride and they don't care who they offend'. My nan is the latest culprit and I've called her out on it. Cue lots of her friends spouting racist bollocks about people not being able to sell them blah blah. My nan spouting shit about what a good heart I have because I can't see the bad in people. I'm 34. I'm not a fucking child. And breathe!

I'm Irish and wouldn't wear one but completely respect the right of British people to remember their war dead,

A few people at uni, but that was 30 odd years ago and they were, without exception, white. (One was from NI, where as folks have said, some have a problem)
I've fallen out on FB with a friends bf after he spouted the "towns are banned from selling them because it's deemed offensive" I just said -no they aren't. Cue, big pile on. Blocked.

Someone I went to uni with wore a white one which iirc she said represented peace.

I think you may mean your are an Irish nationalist or Irish republican and would not wear one for that reason. Is that right?

I don't really see why it affects you so, tbh. I actually wouldn't consider myself a republican, I have no views on the North other than they can do what they like. The poppy has no relevance to my life - but when I think about it, it commemorates those who fought for freedom, but also those who oppressed Ireland. I also probably wouldn't wear a symbol commemorating the dead of Rwanda, for example. If I was from the UK or had relatives linked to it, I might.

The OP asked why people are offended by the poppy, my answer is simple - the poppy represents soldiers from another country, and soldiers who were involved in the War of Independence. That is the reason that I said many Irish people will not wear one. Hth.

windowSong Are you offended when the Irish Ambassador lays a wreath at the Cenotaph? It started some years ago now. And I was at the Menin Gate one 11 November when the Lord Mayor of Cork laid one after the Last Post in honour of all the thousands of Irishmen who died in the British Forces. You can like it or not but they came from both traditions; they were all volunteers; and in the Second World War they came from both sides of the border.

Never ever.

I was strongly discouraged by my parents from wearing a poppy (in NI). I don't mind other people wearing them, but I would feel very uncomfortable wearing a red poppy without a white one. And there are definite political nuances to poppy-wearing which might it inappropriate to wear one in some circumstances.

I find it an offensive symbol of British colonialism, but I'm Irish. What I find most offensive, aside from the colonial connotations, is the poppy fascism in organisations such as the BBC where all people on screen seem to be required to wear them. Whether it is a defacto requirement due to negative feedback from viewers if people appear without, or an actual requirement, I'm not sure. However I know it has been reported that anyone who doesn't want to wear one has been asked to take annual leave.

I have never met anyone offended by the poppy. Then again its not a question I bother to ask. Wear one or dont not my business.

I'm Irish and don't wear one. I don't get offended by those that do. I get offended by policies that require the wearing of one in the workplace or when representing the workplace. Such policies are ignorant and imperialistic.

I would always be in Ireland visiting now XP family around Remembrance Sunday and my poppy would always attract lots of looks and nudges. Never over here though.

I wouldn't dream of wearing one.

Anyone who is offended by such a symbol - particularly given its strong association with World War 1 - is not worth bothering with.

@ravenwings
You didn't say "many Irish people will not wear one."
You said "I'm Irish so would never wear one".
Quite different. It implies your nationality determines why you don't wear one. When, in fact many of your fellow citizens do wear one. It bothers me because people, especially from the UK may deduce from what you said, that all Irish people are hostile to UK traditions and customs when that is far from the case. We take part in many, particularly in my part of the country.
If its not for nationalistic reasons, then maybe your area is less diverse, if that what you think is the Irish point of view. It does not represent many parts of Ireland.

Mind you, many of them won’t have any general knowledge about wars, anyway.

Just to give some evidence, Google poppy wreath ceremonies in Ireland, there are loads. Dublin, and all over the rest of the country,involving our politicians.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Johnmccraememorialbookcloseup02.JPG/1200px-Johnmccraememorialbookcloseup02.JPG

@Numbsnet - where do you live? I live in the West of Ireland and have never seen a poppy for sale anywheand here. I have equally never seen an Irish person wearing one in Ireland.

Perhaps people from the UK should reflect on why Irish people aren't all fans of the poppy, in that case. There is a difference between being hostile and something just having a different cultural resonance. Its quite colonialist to expect that all people will react the same.

I also said that I can imagine some Irish people being offended, but that I am not. You do you. However, the poppy simply isn't a relevant issue in my life - it's a foreign commemoration to me. If I think about it, it's something that has negative connotations.

As I said, if you want to wear it have at it, and I see people doing so occasionally in Dublin I think somehow our cultural diversity in the area will manage just fine with me and others being reluctant to toss on a red scrap to commemorate those against the Irish state.

I don't agree with or support the poppy appeal.

I don't like the way the conflate the service of people conscripted during war with people now who have chosen a well paid but dangerous job.

I'm not at all 'offended' by people who have a different opinion and buy a red poppy.

Numbsnet I don't know what part of the U.K. your in or what part of Ireland you are from. Unfortunately mine and many other Irish people's experiences are of an active anti Irish nature so I think we can deduce that the average opinion is a poor one anyway.
Just look at the way people reacted with shock and surprise when there was an extremely informative thread about the history of NI. A significant number of posters seemed to think Irish Catholic = bad/IRA/violent British Protestant = innocent/good guys / defending themselves against savages.

I’m not offended by them, but I find it hard to get my head around. I grew up thinking that we wore them to remember the dead and to remind us never ever do it again. A lest we forget thing. But I must have misunderstood because now it seems to be about glorifying war. I feel uncomfortable seeing warmongering politicians laying wreaths. I didn’t wear one last year, not really on purpose, I just didn’t go out of my way to find one. I don’t know if I wil wear one this year.

Having said that, I remember seeing the white poppy, red poppy and Easter lily being worn by one person once. Now that's diversity - I presume we should all be aiming for that numbnuts?

Oh wow - numbsnet! Genuinely a typo and did not mean to call you numbnuts