Minute Silence at 6pm for Captain Tom.

[Doomsdayiscoming]

I will be standing outside my house with my head bowed to remember Tom, and all the others that have lost their lives during this pandemic due to covid directly, or indirectly.

My hands will not meet. I don’t care what Supreme Leader Johnson orders us to do.

AIBU?

I must be the only person who finds the whole thing cringeworthy. All these people talking about 'Tom' as if they personally knew him

I’m afraid people like you are an absolute gift to the government. Captain Tom Moore raised an incredible amount, but the reality is he was a kind person trying to raise a modest amount to do his bit. Social and viral media did the rest - and the government lapped it up. A centenarian and a WW2 veteran rolled into one; you couldn’t have got a better poster boy (or pensioner) for ‘We’re All in This Together, Britain’ if you tried. Politicians could wax lyrical about his spirit and how he represented everything that makes Britain great, while the public donated to fund a service their taxes (under)fund anyway. Anyone who dared to highlight that maybe the NHS shouldn’t need a charity fundraiser on this scale was seen as criticising lovely old Captain Tom - already so beloved that he no longer needed a surname

Agree with this

@whatdoesthismeaneh what have Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott got to do with anything?

[quote ilovesooty]@whatdoesthismeaneh what have Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott got to do with anything?[/quote]
Diane is just on the phone asking Jeremy now.

Israel? Hmmm...

You are being unreasonable.

Hmm, what, it's a country who's done a phenomenal job at vaccinating as the bloody vaccine was DESIGNED. That's not a rant, that is fact. Your grasp of science is on par with a lizard's. We have no idea what the long-term effect of giving only one dose of a vaccine that's designed to be given as two will be, but science can give you a pretty good guess, hence why there's this little thing called a vaccine schedule designed by those crafty scientists to provide protection against disease rather than use people are guinea pigs to score political points and wag the dog after their crap policies and the tens of billions of pounds of public money that make the Marshall Plan look like a kid's poker game they gave out to their mates, of PUBLIC money, came to nowt.

That's another FACT.

@RedWelliesAreHot why are you "hmmm..."ing at Israel, which has vaccinated 4x the proportion of its population that we have?

[quote saraclara]@RedWelliesAreHot why are you "hmmm..."ing at Israel, which has vaccinated 4x the proportion of its population that we have?[/quote]
I think you need to read about the people in Israel who are being denied the vaccine - read what Amnesty International has to say on it.

Then come back if you still hold them up as a paragon or virtue.

@notanothertakeaway

I must be the only person who finds the whole thing cringeworthy. All these people talking about 'Tom' as if they personally knew him

I’m afraid people like you are an absolute gift to the government. Captain Tom Moore raised an incredible amount, but the reality is he was a kind person trying to raise a modest amount to do his bit. Social and viral media did the rest - and the government lapped it up. A centenarian and a WW2 veteran rolled into one; you couldn’t have got a better poster boy (or pensioner) for ‘We’re All in This Together, Britain’ if you tried. Politicians could wax lyrical about his spirit and how he represented everything that makes Britain great, while the public donated to fund a service their taxes (under)fund anyway. Anyone who dared to highlight that maybe the NHS shouldn’t need a charity fundraiser on this scale was seen as criticising lovely old Captain Tom - already so beloved that he no longer needed a surname

Agree with this

Me too

@rawalpindithelabrador

Israel? Hmmm...

You are being unreasonable.

Hmm, what, it's a country who's done a phenomenal job at vaccinating as the bloody vaccine was DESIGNED. That's not a rant, that is fact. Your grasp of science is on par with a lizard's. We have no idea what the long-term effect of giving only one dose of a vaccine that's designed to be given as two will be, but science can give you a pretty good guess, hence why there's this little thing called a vaccine schedule designed by those crafty scientists to provide protection against disease rather than use people are guinea pigs to score political points and wag the dog after their crap policies and the tens of billions of pounds of public money that make the Marshall Plan look like a kid's poker game they gave out to their mates, of PUBLIC money, came to nowt.

That's another FACT.

Yes look at the millions in Israel who are being denied the vaccine. Israel is not exactly at the top of the league when it comes to human rights.

Read what Amnesty has to say on it if you don't already know.

The rest of your rant is nonsense. 'Crafty' scientists.

This:
Clapping is a distraction from being reminded of the nhs being underfunded. Captain Tom would probably have preferred his legacy was that we fund the nhs better rather than give him a clap (as would the nhs staff when they were being clapped)

@RedWelliesAreHot, we're discussing the rapid roll out of vaccine, which has been done spectacularly well over there. The whole Israel/Palestine thing is a whole different argument. Whatever our personal feelings, it's more complex than just 'Israel should vaccinate Palestinians', as I'm sure you're aware.

Dr Yasser Bozia, Palestinian Director-General for Public Health went further: "We haven't asked for any vaccine from Israel. It's our responsibility to procure and roll-out the COVID vaccine and all other vaccines. That's been the case going back years," he told Sky News.

He continued: "We are part of Covax ( the part of the WHO charged with rolling out vaccines to all countries) and all nations who've signed up have been informed they will receive their first vaccine in first quarter of 2021."

The Palestinian Authority is also negotiating with other companies providing the vaccine including Astra Zeneca, Sputnik and Moderna. Officials have said that vaccine delivery should begin by March.

Personally I would hope that Israel would help, but they're not actually obliged to, as the DGof PH quoted above makes clear.

@TheSpottedDog

So what? Do what you want to do, nobody cares. It’s not like everyone’s response will be monitored. I do support the government but I won’t be standing outside clapping either, it’s bloody stupid.

I'm with you!

I won't be doing it.i am very very sad that Tom died but clapping is only virtue signalling to your neighbours as far as I'm concerned.

It's as though the country is being brainwashed into mass virtue signalling - time and time again. Distasteful. I'm sure most people are thinking of those who lose their lives, and the family and friends left bereaved, every single day, as personal stories are shared and the daily stats are published.

I acknowledged him with a class discussion today. I'm not clapping like a seal for anything else. It's had it's day.

@rawalpindithelabrador it wasn't "thanks to the government that he died", it was on account of being 100 years old and it would have to happen some time. Or are you blaming the government for not conferring eternal life on the man? Have a think about it for heavens sake 🙄

Doomsdayiscoming
Wow. Subtlety is lost on you guys.

By clapping at the suggestion of Johnson you are indirectly supporting him, and his Govt.

Yet you are still going outside at the behest of Boris, go figure.

@cantmakealifeofit

WTF? How is any of what I said “patronising?” Do you understand the meaning of the word? I was speaking metaphorically about the reasons why he appealed to the nation’s sensibilities on a collective level. If you read about Nick Knowles’ comments re; the psychology of the collective unconscious he got it spot on.

Heroes are born in times of crisis and elevated into figures that others can look up to. He did appeal to many in a fatherly manner with his words of comfort. I never said he wasn’t an actual father to his children! I can’t believe you read that from my post. How weird.

Some people on MN seem determined to get offended by........literally nothing

I'm in Scotland, no mention of him on the news. I don't know anyone who will be out clapping.

Ye gods. The fucking fireworks again

[quote Suamino]@cantmakealifeofit

WTF? How is any of what I said “patronising?” Do you understand the meaning of the word? I was speaking metaphorically about the reasons why he appealed to the nation’s sensibilities on a collective level. If you read about Nick Knowles’ comments re; the psychology of the collective unconscious he got it spot on.

Heroes are born in times of crisis and elevated into figures that others can look up to. He did appeal to many in a fatherly manner with his words of comfort. I never said he wasn’t an actual father to his children! I can’t believe you read that from my post. How weird.

Some people on MN seem determined to get offended by........literally nothing[/quote]
I cringed at what you said also. Nick Knowles' comments either grab you, or they don't. I don't think he's spot on and he's not known as a great philosopher.

Some people latch on to other people and elevate them to hero status. We (in the UK) do that all the time. We build people up because we enjoy knocking them down again. That's how reality TV works for so many.

This is a time of crisis, many people have died who shouldn't have - and that's what makes the hero worshipping of a PR-driven, kindly elderly man who also happens to have died at the good age of 100, a bit much.

I don't much like the phrase 'read the room' but it is apt and you'd have to be abnormally tone deaf to post what you did and be surprised that some posters didn't respond positively to your flowery words as you'd imagined everybody would.

Many people are sick and tired of the hysterical fawning. I'm quite partial to David Attenborough but I sincerely hope he's had his jab and is mainlining his vit D because, if this board is anything like it has been over Mr Tom then it's going to be unbearable.

Mr Tom; loved by friends and family, achieved extraordinary and determined celebrity, lived a long time and he'll be missed by those who knew him and, for a short time, by those who said they did.

Perhaps the minute's silence should be extended to typing... and go on for longer?

RIP Captain Tom and all the other people we've lost.

YABU to stand outside your house at all. Why not just stay indoors and have a minute’s silence if you want? Why do you need people to see you do it?

Didn't this fad start at football matches, for when fans can't be trusted to stay quiet, so the applause drowns out noise?

Clapping is now done at football in the UK to celebrate the life of people associated with the game. It came from Italy and is nothing to do with drowning out supporters who 'can't be trusted'

Before clapping became the norm, I've stood in silence at many football matches. Those silences have always been impeccably observed, including by opposition supporters.

@Doomsdayiscoming did you hang your head on your doorstep? Did others join you? Did those who were clapping (if any) ask if you were okay?

A family were on my street with some performative clapping that was very loud. They were banging drums. There was a massive bang and I thought someone shot them, but it was a single firework.

I wonder if the OP is still on her door step.