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Original poster

Captain Tom Moore's birthday cards

62 replies

LivingOnAnIsland · 30/04/2020 01:12

What do you think of the thousands of cards he has received? I think it's a lovely gesture, but the money spent on cards could possibly have been donated to charity, as well as the amount spent on postage, and the posties must have worked their socks off to deliver them. Don't want to be a grump, as I think Captain Tom has done a grand job, but what will he do with all those cards - apart from recycle them?

OP posts:
WelcomeToGreenvale · 30/04/2020 01:42

Can't stand any of it. Horrified that an elderly man has become the face of raising money for the NHS when it isn't a charity. It's the government who have taken money from the NHS. He should never have felt the need to do it, and the circus around him is ridiculous. I'm sure he's very nice.

peachesandclean · 30/04/2020 02:05

I fully support Captain Tom and think he's an absolute treasure but the whole birthday card thing has made me despair.

Is he going to read them all? No
Was it a stupendous waste of money and materials? Definitely
Like you pointed out, did it put a strain on an already extremely strained delivery service? Absolutely

I'm no scrooge but I think people have been very stupid with this whole thing, there are many ways to show appreciation but with everything going on this was a terrible idea

firawla · 30/04/2020 02:08

Yanbu it does seem wasteful and ott. Yes, I get that it’s “lovely” but I thought the same as you, and it even said on the news that he won’t be able to go and see them all

JustStayHome · 30/04/2020 02:08

I think he may be starting to become overwhelmed

Its to much for a 100 year old man.

Did people really think that he was going to open them all and personally read them?
So much waste, so much work and strain for the postal workers.

To knight him, yes Due to not only raising 30M but battling for our country)
And a Fly over would be nice

Everything else, no.

He needs to be left alone

Rubyupbeat · 30/04/2020 02:44

What a lively man he is. I feel people probably feel connected to him, that's why they have sent cards, probably not even thinking that he wont be able to read them all.
It makes me annoyed though that money should have to be raised for a public service, in dire need of funding, by the government, who have run it into the ground , it takes the load off them.
Oh, and how much 'just giving' will earn from it all.

Rubyupbeat · 30/04/2020 02:44

Oops, meant lovely, but I suppose lively too.

PepperMooMoo · 30/04/2020 08:15

What's the difference between kids colouring at home and that being recycled and them putting that effort into doing something to celebrate someone amazing? Also, it's not as if one solitary postman has been going back and forth, is it? They would have been held by Royal Mail and delivered en masse.

I agree there is an irony in an elderly man walking to raise money for a government funded body like the NHS, but seriously.... unclench! He has a voice, he'd say if he wasn't enjoying the recognition! Of course he isn't going to read every card, but what a sight to see on your 100th birthday, that people cared and bothered to acknowledge your efforts.

isseydaisy · 30/04/2020 08:16

I think it has become saccharine, condescending and has more than a faint whiff of jingoism about it.

You did ask Smile

BeardedMum · 30/04/2020 08:21

I am sure he is a very nice man, but the circus around him now is ridiculous. He is Britain’s new Princess Di.

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 30/04/2020 08:24

I'm with isseydaisy.

Captain Tom (now Colonel Tom) seems lovely, and raising money for charities that support the NHS (with added extras - core services are not funded this way) is a good cause, but the way it has been latched on to by the media feels like propaganda more than anything.

People's hearts are in the right place, but it's all just a big distraction from the hard questions we should be asking about our government's response to this.

PianoTuner567 · 30/04/2020 08:29

Agree. It was a great story and a lovely man but it’s gone too far now and is becoming a bit cringe.

Ellisandra · 30/04/2020 08:30

I think many of the people who sent a care just thought it was a single nice gesture, and didn’t imagine the scale of the card sending. So I’m 🤷🏻‍♀️ on that, really.

What pisses me off is that on fb yesterday I saw no less than three companies in a day exploit him to promote their business.

  • a brewery gifting him 100 bottles: unsolicited and plastering it all over Facebook
  • an upholstery company making him a chair: unsolicited and plastering it all over Facebook
  • a double glazing form getting a graffiti artist to paint a huge picture of him, without his name but with “Exploitative Glazing Services Ltd” right next to him: unsolicited and plastered over Facebook
Hmm

Really, really unimpressed.

100Intheyear2020 · 30/04/2020 08:30

Ive raised money for various charities over the years, it is hard work

I've never met anyone who is 100

I made Capt Tom Moore a homemade birthday card

I hope that he enjoys his day

GrimmsFairytales · 30/04/2020 08:31

I think it's a pointless gesture.

So much money wasted and all for nothing. He will never read them and they'll be in the recycling next week.

Amanduh · 30/04/2020 08:32

It’s not a distraction from the government. The government aren’t taking money from the NHS, they’re increasing it. They haven’t run the NHS in to the ground. It needs a serious overhaul but they aren’t taking money away from it, that’s bullshit. No one asked him to raise the money. The NHS isn’t relying on charity.
Seriously what is the POINT in keep making threads like this? It helps no one. There is nothing constructive about it. If it gives people a little light in their fucking day to send an old man a birthday card then honestly. This site is just awful this week. Just let there be a little happiness for once.

isseydaisy · 30/04/2020 08:32

Is being 100 in itself an achievement?

Because I don’t think it is, particularly. It’s lucky, but I don’t think it’s a sign of courage or kindness or resilience. Good health, possibly.

lynsey91 · 30/04/2020 08:33

Well no one had to send a card did they? I chose not to just because I knew he would receive so many.

I think he is a lovely man but does seem totally overwhelmed by it all. That's not down to him though

mpsw · 30/04/2020 08:36

The birthday rounds it off, the page closes at the end of today.

The flypast was a lovely thing to do - so it brought together crisis response/fundraising and otherwise cancelled VE 75 commemoration

isseydaisy · 30/04/2020 08:36

Amanduh - I’ve no issue, at all, with people sending him birthday cards.

What makes me uncomfortable about it is more to do with the fact that TM has become a public ‘face’ of the corona pandemic, in the same way that Rosa Parks did in the civil rights movement. That’s all well and good but just as Rosa Parks was carefully selected, TM has been too - except Parks was aware it was a conscious decision, and I’m not sure TM was.

The problem with this is that nuance is lost and we have two ‘sides’ - on the one hand a brave former soldier, an elderly man, physically frail and yet forcing himself to walk for ‘our’ NHS. This turns the NHS into something almost human: to criticise it, to suggest that it has shortcomings, is akin to criticising TM himself and who would criticise a 100 year old soldier?

RevIMJolly · 30/04/2020 08:39

I think you have got to recognise that lots of people probably got a bit of joy from sending a card.

They may have felt connected to something bigger than themselves, and perhaps used it as something to do with their children (choosing / making / addressing / posting the card).

And as far as I can see all the cards were opened and sorted by his grandson’s school, so it’s not as if the family are doing it all by themselves.

reesewithoutaspoon · 30/04/2020 08:43

Its over the top and cringy. yes he did a wonderful thing. but this is totally media driven.
You only have to look at how the elderly have been treated during this pandemic to know how this country and government really feels about its older generation. They have been discarded and treated as acceptable collateral damage.

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 30/04/2020 08:49

Exactly. The elderly are dying in care homes where there is inadequate PPE. Colonel Tom has done a great thing, but as a society we should be taking a hard look at how this has been handled.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 30/04/2020 08:52

Why must we tie the celebrations for Captain Tom into larger governmental/ social issues? Most people can hold two thoughts in their head at the same time.
I think it’s fantastic what Captain Tom has done, his family have said the cards and donations have put a spring in his step- it’s lovely and heart warming and I wish people would stop trying to be negative.

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 30/04/2020 08:52

I wouldn't criticise any individual who has sent a card though. People's hearts are in the right place, it's not their fault that this is being used by the media etc. in the way it is.

Right now, the royal family are looking more irrelevant than ever. The younger members have done very little during this, and we've had a greater insight into what they consider to be 'work'. The queen giving Colonel Tom a promotion on his birthday is an attempt to mask their irrelevance.

dottiedodah · 30/04/2020 08:54

Well I think Capt Tom is incredible ,What an achievement ! Being 100 years old and raising so much money on his own .Some posters are being a bit mean here .He has also fought in the war for his country ,and I am grateful .I am a true patriot and not ashamed of it! Whatever anyone thinks of the Govt. Corona has brought the NHS down and a pandemic like this would test even the best run health services!Happy Birthday, Capt Tom and have a great day !