Captain Tom 😢

[StCharlotte]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-55881753

He did more in his last year than most of us manage in a lifetime.

Truly a life well lived.

Isn't ironic that influencers are getting slagged off for holidaying in Dubai during the pandemic, but people seem to think its acceptable for a 100 year old man to hop on a flight to Barbados just because his family fancied a holiday.

I have never said anything unkind about him and/or his family.
How on earth is joining the armed forces, living your life and then raising money for the NHS something akin to sainthood?

@randomer

No its not a breath taking lack of empathy. Sad loss for the family and friends. He seemed like a nice guy who did a nice thing.

Then it got silly.

Thank goodness for sense.

Clearly a wonderful chap, but the hero worshipping of someone the media selected to be the flavour of the month completely baffles me. People who've never met him acting like he's their grandad or personal friend is very odd, often because he's a good vehicle for virtue signalling.

And the fact his family got to be with him when there'd have been men and women dying next door alone is grossly unfair.

Not his fault obviously but a NHS PR machine gone into overdrive.

How on earth is joining the armed forces, living your life and then raising money for the NHS something akin to sainthood

Well, it's not. My own grandad has done that, and so much in between but because the media didn't run away with his story no one calls him a saint.
Again nothing against Captain Tom who never asked for any of this fame, but if you do anything other than worshipping and fawning over him then you lack empathy and hate solider apparently

randomer you said that what he did and what he represented was a bunch of right wing nonsense.

In case you need reminding.

That really is quite beyond what is acceptable. So don';t be unkind. His family have lost someone dear to them. he was a sumbol of something positive when the country was craving for something positive. And at the end of the day a person has lost their life. His death is every bit as tragic as every single other person who has lost their life. Every single one, Yet people are bitching about it on the internet.

It is distasteful at best.

I think it was his daughters PR machine that got cranked up to be fair.

Plenty of decent folk old and young , black and white have no access to a garden and just get along.
I think of a lady in my local Sainsburys....absolutley unfailinging lovely and kind , the kindest, smiliest face. Thank God for her.

I agree with this. He did seem a genuinely lovely guy but so are thousands of others, also thousands of other, older and younger people do lots for charity but keep it quiet. I'm not saying he wanted publicity but he got it anyway. Do you do lots for charity?

Today 20:42 Countrywalking

“And what about the poor people of Barbados“

The Barbadian Govt. has launched a scheme, inviting foreign nationals to “work from home” there for a year, with preferential terms. BBC interviewed a Scottish lady who had taken up the offer with her husband in November, the other day. They enjoyed Christmas there, where rates are low and restrictions scant, with their adult children. Along with over 3,000 other British people, the report said.

Based on that, doesn’t sound like the “poor people of Barbados” are terribly worked up about it tbh.

If he had been a deserter would the rhetotic have been the same?

Very sad news. I feared the worse when the news was that his family were with him in hospital as that meant he was classified as in the ‘end of life’phase.

The reports said he had had pneumonia for weeks and then tested positive. We dont know if he tested negative earlier in his pneumonia (and swab tests supposedly miss about 30 per cent of positive cases anyway). So the pneumonia could have been Covid all along as Covid takes time to get serious enough for a hospital admission and he died about 24 hours after arriving in the hospital.

Sadly his Barbados trip may have been how he caught it because of the timing but even it was he may have considered the risks before he went and decided it was worth it for an opportunity like that. He was offered it by BA. It would have been hard to turn down and certainly he didnt do anything wrong by going.

A lovely man who deserves all the good wishes he is getting.

@derxa

I agree with this. He did seem a genuinely lovely guy but so are thousands of others, also thousands of other, older and younger people do lots for charity but keep it quiet. I'm not saying he wanted publicity but he got it anyway. Do you do lots for charity?

I give a monthly sum to a charity of my choice. I've done runs in the past and I've also baked and cooked for lonely or elderly neighours during the pandemic. I don't go round bragging about it though. No one knows but myself and my family. And you lot now.

TokyoSashimi

Didn’t you know, TokyoSashimi, it’s only sad when someone dies gasping for breath if they’re young, apparently?

Covid is a filthy way to die, whatever your age. A doctor who had sat by her father’s bedside as he died described it as watching someone trying to breathe with a plastic bag over their head, which someone had punched one hole into. Imagine that for a second. Doesn’t matter if you’re 1 or 100, that is f*ing tragic and I wouldn’t wish that death on Satan.

Surely the only thing to do on a thread like this is pay your respects?

Calm down @DenisetheMenace no one has said it isn't a tragic death

But I do think it's more tragic to lose a young person than a person who has lived to the age of 100, with a life full of love, family, achievements and adoration. An ex-colleague of mine died of COVID last week aged 39, leaving behind a wife and 3 kids under 6 (one is a newborn). That IS more tragic than the loss of a 100yo.

@randomer

If he had been a deserter would the rhetotic have been the same?

How is that at all relevant? That's really scraping the barrel.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Surely the only thing to do on a thread like this is pay your respects?

Couldn't agree more

I have just watched the BBC tribute to this great man with tears streaming down my face. A true gentleman from a dwindling, wartime generation. He brought a light hope during dark times and is the utter definition of ‘hero.’ However, on the day that this gentle, awe inspiring man dies, it seems inconceivable that anyone would comment on this thread with ANY negative comment! Total shame on you! People will always have their own opinions but to voice them on such a thread, shows utter disrespect & lack of empathy. RIP you dear, dear man. Your duty is done.

@SummaLuvin

Unpopular opinion: Sir Tom and his family were wrong to have travelled to Barbados. I think they were tier 3 or 4 at the time. If it wasn’t against the rules explicitly, then it was certainly against the spirit of them. Many people saying now that he died it’s a good thing he went to have one last jolly, I disagree. My 90 year old grandma hasn't met her first great-grandchild who turns 1 next week, should she be allowed to go on family visits because she is old and probably wouldn't survive if she caught Covid? Of course not. There are many old people who have made sacrifices in their final years because we are all in this together. Being old doesn’t exempt you from rules.

Of course it's terribly sad for his family, but doesn't justify the holiday...

100% agree with this

The amount of influencers traveling who get dragged over hot coals on here yet the crickets and if not praise for Capt Tom traveling is extreme hypocrisy. Both incidences were legal.

@TokyoSashimi

randomer you said that what he did and what he represented was a bunch of right wing nonsense.

In case you need reminding.

That really is quite beyond what is acceptable. So don';t be unkind. His family have lost someone dear to them. he was a sumbol of something positive when the country was craving for something positive. And at the end of the day a person has lost their life. His death is every bit as tragic as every single other person who has lost their life. Every single one, Yet people are bitching about it on the internet.

It is distasteful at best.

It's sad yes but he was 100. It isn't as tragic as the 36 year old woman who died in my town leaving behind a husband and two children. Or my 53 year old neighbour. And I'm sure there are many more.

My DH's uncle died last week. he was 94. Not of covid, of cancer. We were quite close but could not be with him.

I would just hate it if people said; 'well, he was old and rich and had a good innings and was in the army and who cares'.

So maybe I am taking it a bit personally. But I think bitching about a person's life ending and bitching about something they did in good faith and with good spirit is a bit - well- that is not the kind of person I would want to be, tbh.

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

How on earth is joining the armed forces, living your life and then raising money for the NHS something akin to sainthood

Well, it's not. My own grandad has done that, and so much in between but because the media didn't run away with his story no one calls him a saint.
Again nothing against Captain Tom who never asked for any of this fame, but if you do anything other than worshipping and fawning over him then you lack empathy and hate solider apparently

I think the reason he captured so much attention is because his story is so normal rather than being so remarkable. many of us can see some of our grandparents in him and it reminds us of a generation that gave such a lot. For me it's never been captain Tom the hero but what he represents - a whole generation really.

There is no barrel scraping going on here.
I have said , its sad, its sad for his family, his friends. Its sad for people who feel invested in the narrative.
Its all tied up together isnt it...VE Day, Captain Tom, Dame Vera.
Sadly for tens of thousands of people ,they are facing the challenge of survivial.

There is no barrel scraping going on here.

That post absolutely was.

It isn't as tragic as...

It's not a fucking competition.

WTF is wrong with people?