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!

Yes. A family relative associated the poppy with the brutality of the Black and Tans.

I genuinely don't understand the argument of why people don't support the poppy because the men and women in the armed forces signed up voluntarily. It's just as well they still do despite all the shit that gets thrown at them from all angles on a daily basis. And as for being well paid, yes DH is because he's been in forever, DS1 isn't.

If it wasn't for the limited numbers joining up, there's a huge recruitment and retention crisis, then they would have to bring back conscription. That could be you, your partners, your family members and your children being called up.

never. i worked in a college with a large muslim population. never met one who had an issue with poppy day or indeed christmas or easter.

I have seen one- there is a footballer James McClean who will not wear one as he associates it with the army presence in the Troubles. He gets booed often by followers of opposing teams as a result.

TheFairyCaravan

Because the Poppy Campaign has more than enough support that they don't need to guilt people into wearing one. They're the only charity symbol that's allowed on the BBC, and they have huge support. Don't try to guilt people - it should be a personal choice if someone wants to wear one or not.

What caravan said.

Also many people see the white poppy as offensive as they connect it with the "send white feathers to the cowards" mentality of WW2 and the divisiveness between those who fought and those who chose not to. White then was the colour of cowardice or perceived cowardice.

They're the only charity symbol that's allowed on the BBC

Children in need?
Comic relief?
Sports relief?

I agree though nobody should be forced to wear one. It is down to the individual.

I don’t wear a poppy. I’m not offended if people do.
I do find the clogging them in primary schools a bit off.

ForalltheSaints the abuse James McClean gets for not wearing a poppy is unacceptable. His personal choice to not wear a poppy is just that. It doesn’t mean he is offended by others wearing it, and in fact he has publicly stated on many occasions that he has no problem with anyone else choosing to wear one.

The abuse public figures get for not wearing it and the very heavy pressure to wear it in certain workplaces reinforces my perception that it is a symbol of colonial oppression.

I’m not offended by people choosing to wear a poppy but I am offended by being expected to wear a poppy. I find the sparkly jewellery poppies distasteful even when sold in aid of RBL. I make a donation but don’t wear the poppy, I’m with Jon Snow with his opinion on poppy fascism (newsreader not GoT!)

I can't understand how seeing real life "guilts" people in to buying a poppy. .

They'd better get rid of Water Aid ads, NSPCC ads, Sport Relief, Children In Need, Comic Relief etc if seeing real life situations "guilts" people into supporting charities.

CosmicPineapple

Those are all campaigns partly-run by the BBC. Graham Norton got done for letting his guests wear AIDS ribbons and I know personally someone who was told to take off their Green Ribbon supporting Mental Health awareness.

I personally think if one symbol is allowed on the BBC then they all should be.

Yes, once. About 20 years ago my friend and I were wearing white poppies for some reason. We were getting off a bus and the driver nodded at my poppy and hissed "cover it!" several times in a really aggressive voice.

Being about 12 we were very intimidated and covered our poppies. These days I'd tell him to eff off and report him to the bus company.

Cosmic

I am sure she was, there have been parish notices asking for volunteers to go through the whole village.

I didn't know they weren't supposed to. It does make me a bit worried I'm going to be questioned by my neighbours again about not wearing one! I'm tempted to make my own to use as remembrance without feeling like I have donated to a cause I would not normally support.

They sound like rouge poppy sellers

Poppy sellers have strict rules to follow.
No shaking of tins
No approaching people.
No asking people to buy.

Dont let your nieghbours put pressure on you. Its none of their business.

Brilliant typo @CosmicPineapple 😁

Oops

Fairy

Conscription is not currently in practice, so everyone who joins knows they are willingly going to play a part in the deaths of others. They are not doing me a favour by being complicit in immoral wars.

Perhaps if more effort was made towards lasting peace there would be no need for the armed forces.

Perhaps if fewer people joined the armed forces then politicians would be more inclined to put effort into seeking peace.

Do you not see the incongruity between saying 'never again' on a specific day in November each year and in almost the next breath sending troops to war?

Don't worry I explain my reasons to them gently but continuously until they are backing away regretting asking in the first place!

There is a nice piece on the origin of the tradition here www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-poppy-came-symbolize-world-war-i-180960836/

"The poem, which muses on the existence of poppies in a cemetery and encourages people to take up the torch in honor of their fallen countrymen, became a powerful recruiting tool for the Allies".

It has evolved over time, and I feel that is not the intention today.

I guess for us British we can remember our soldiers who died in wars. Objectively, our soldiers were sometimes welcomed abroad, but often they were an invading army. I can see why British people want to remember our dead, but I can also see why it's seen as a symbol of British imperialism abroad too.

Nope. NEVER. It's the RUSSIAN'S I tell you. Spewing and boiling the pot to stir unrest amongst the UK citizens. Look how it's affected the US. They target the browns and the blacks too.

I've even met some young Brits blaming the foreign students who pay International fees for not getting a place in University. If any, they should put their greivance to the School Adminstration with regard to student quota.

@AJPTaylor never. i worked in a college with a large muslim population. never met one who had an issue with poppy day or indeed christmas or easter Yep, I've never met ANY muslim who are offended. They are actually OFFENDED when others think they're offended. I've only heard such rubbish spewed on tabloids and I personally don't want MURDOCH to own SKY so they can start their propaganda like FOX & friends in US.

I'm not offended by anyone else wearing one. I'm Irish and I'm sufficiently knowledgeable about Anglo/Irish history to never wear one myself though.

I've never known anyone offended by a poppy, but I know pacifists who wear white poppies.

I only wear a poppy on the 11th, and possibly memorial Sunday if I go to mass . I don't like the pressure to wear a poppy from the first of November.