Two minutes silence and refusing to serve customer

[BalugaBelle]

At work today I was on the checkout (large retail store) and the silence was announced over a tannoy.

A woman (on the phone) came up to the checkout during the silence, so I shushed her. Motioned to poppies next to till!

She then said, "I'm going to miss my train, please continue serving me!"

I refused, shook my head and sat silently for the two minutes.

At the end I put her items through, she moaned at me and called me rude and petty and then went on her merry way.

So was I being unreasonable to respect the two minutes silence, even if it meant a customer was unhappy at me doing so?

I know good customer service is needed but surely the two minutes silence takes priority? She clearly had no respect!

Quite frankly I didn't give a damn about her train, I was paying my respects as was everyone else in the shop. It was literally almost silent apart from young children (understandable) and general noise, i.e., heating making noises!

YANBU

It's 2 minutes. That's all. It's not a new thing for shops to observe it either, I can remember having DS1 in his pushchair, in Woolworths 22 years ago, observing the silence.

They'll be another one today, and a lot of towns will be closed off for parades and wreath laying. I hope the woman won't be in a rush this morning!

You did the right thing OP.

When this ignorant lady goes and tells her friends how the lady in the supermarket refused to serve her because she wanted to observe the 2 minutes silence for our fallen, I really hope they tell her what a horrible over entitled person she is. I think she should come back and apologise for being so rude, but I doubt that will ever happen! You are absolutely within your right to observe the silence and her selfish needs are no greater than yours! Well done for keeping your cool OP!

Yanbu, we don’t answer the phones at work, it’s 2 minutes in a year. Lest we forget

I cannot believe that people think you should serve her in silence! How disprespectful.
It's not just about being silent it's about stopping what you are doing.
There are some dreadful people about.

YANBU - how ignorant of her.

We were at a football match, they gathered in the field and blew the whistle, EVERYONE was quiet - except one Mum who continued talking at the person next to her , I still can't get over it

I now find Remembrance a bit tricky.

Dhs DF was Latvian and as a 16 year old he, and the other boys in his village were given the "choice" of fighting for the Germans or having their family shot in front of them. Previous year the Russians came round and did the same thing.

I think it's right and proper that we should remember those who died fighting but feel that we should also remember that the vast majority of the enemy didn't choose to fight us and were also young scared boys forced into a situation they did not want to be in.

DHs DF was lucky, he survived and got put in a British POW camp. Apparently a whole boat of Latvians who had fought for the Germans got machine gunned to death by the Russians when they were sent home, only one who had gouged his eye out to avoid going on the boat survived.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say except that I hate this simplistic rhetoric about WW2 and the old out of date remarks about the germans. For a scout remembrance service a few years ago they were asked to bring in pictures of relatives in uniform. We don't have one of FIL or I would have been tempted.

I must admit I totally forgot about the 2 minutes silence as did the shop assistant in the running shop at the time. I would have recognised it had I remembered, but I would have been thinking of DHs poor DF forced to fight for the Germans who then never saw his parents again as he would have been killed if he returned even years after.

I’d have done the same OP. I’d rather she walk out without items than break the 2 minutes silence.

But rookie in the silence we stop ajd remember those who fought for us and lost their lives in conflicts past and present.

It doesn't mean people stop and think ill of anyone who happened to be on the opposite side.

I was driving at the time.
I didn't stop driving but we were all silent & respectful -- YWBU

Yanbu

You wanted to observe the two minute silence which is when we stop what we are doing and think of those who have lost their lives in war

That she didn’t want to observe this was her choice

YANBU I think. She could have abandoned her purchase and run for the train.

treacle I'm so glad to see you confirm it doesn't happen here! I'm not from the UK, and every year see these threads and wonder if I wittered on through the silence without realising!

Is there another general silence today or just at services? We're going out for brunch and I'd rather not be in the tiny cafe during a silence as would feel very awkward about it.

They really did give their today so that we can continue to live our tomorrow in freedom

Freedom being the operative word. Freedom to observe the silence if one so wishes, not to be forced to do so.

I am getting increasingly disillusioned by how Remembrance has been co-opted as some kind of jingoistic show of patriotism. You simply need to read any news site since the middle of October and the abuse that is given to people who choose not to wear a red poppy. Or where a white one.

I don't understand why you find Remembrance Day tricky rookie. It's not to only remember the British dead.

When we start forgetting the horror... that's when it will start happening again. The whole point is never forget

Are you fucking kidding me? Start happening? It's to mark the end of world war 1. Since then, there have been countless wars, many of them started by the UK. Loads of people have died, yet we continue to pump money into the military and have sanctioned numerous invasions, leading to huge amounts of civilian casualties. Most of the people foaming at the mouth over this are probably the ones unsympathetic to Syrian refugees fleeing a warzone and seeking a safe haven. What utterly hypocritical nonsense- it is so clear that we have learned precisely zero from WW1. The idea that things will 'start happening again' have happened and continue to happen every single day.

I refuse to wear a poppy now because it has been hijacked by the 'support our troops' and blind allegiance to the military and any form of invasion. No thank you. I will wear a poppy if it returns to being a pacifistic, anti-war message. I have also read that a lot of the WW1 veterans who actually saw the horrors, refused to wear the poppy or take part in any of these meaningless ceremonies.

Oh and if I missed a train over this, I would be livid.

Strangely enough I thought RD has been very understated this year. I have only noticed supermarkets selling them for the past 2 weeks.

I think it's important but I don't always wear a poppy- sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, dependant on a number of factors. No one has ever said a word to me, nor have I seen any abuse in the media. Do you have any links?

I am getting increasingly disillusioned by how Remembrance has been co-opted as some kind of jingoistic show of patriotism

This! If it is forced or coerced it becomes meaningless. DP is a war veteran, it is a cause very close to us. He lost friends, he saw unspeakable sights, BIL has combat related PTSD and will never be ok again, so for us it is important. But we are not arrogant enough to assume that we have the right to force others to our way of thinking. Because that’s what freedom is, freedom. Not dictatorship dressed up as freedom. That’s the exact opposite of what was fought for.

You wouldn’t need to miss a train though that’s the point

You just wouldn’t be able to buy the items you wanted within that two minutes

Not really much of a hardship is it

YWNBU - up to her if she observed the two minute silence, but it was store policy and it was announced.

What would she have done if it wasn't Remembrance Day, but there was a queue at the till? Barged her way to the front so she didn't miss her train?

Wild bluebellies your crazy rant has completely misunderstood the fact that RD doesn't, in itself, prevent wars although arguably the idea is to prevent another world war

Maybe people aren't doing much about Syrian refugees because they're forgetting about the horror of concentration camps because people like you think events marking such atrocities aren't important? Have you considered that?

Do you have any links?

Check the comments on any newspaper surrounding poppies. There was a particular revolting article in a city rag by an author doing a guest post abusing people for not wearing poppies.

I was on a train in the quiet coach and they announced they would observe the silence but we were at a station so it was a silence full of talking and announcements which I thought was very sad. I’m sure many of the people that have died in wars were aware of the futility of war and that the people they were fighting were in the same boat but they didn’t have a choice did they? Their choice was taken from them and I’d quite like to think that if I was slaughtered in conflict the survivors who get to live in peace might not forget my existence in preference to shopping and gossiping. If you’re not happy with the more jingoistic stuff speak out about that rather than treating everyone that is able to manage 2 minutes of considering the terrible deaths of millions of people as fuckwit sheep.

I think you should have quietly served her. The silence is not compulsory and you should not enforce on others.

Should the woman have enforced not taking part on the op?