No 2 minutes silence at gym. AIBU

[Mushypeasandchipstogo]

I went to my gym today for a class in the swimming pool. I had totally expected the class to finish just before 11am so that those who wanted to could observe the two minutes silence. By 10.55am it was apparent that this was not going to happen so I just took myself out of the pool and sat in the changing room by myself.
So as to not drip feed, I am from a Forces Family and the wrong side of 50! I found this totally disrespectful of the instructor. He could have, at the very least, mentioned that he had intended to not stop before the class. AIBU to be upset by this?

I was disappointed nobody in my office apart from me one other bothered to observe the 2 mins silence, not too much to ask I don't think ! I have noticed that less and less people are wearing poppies.

YANBU. I would have done the same as you. We stopped in work and when I have been in the gym during the silence the whole place has stopped. We should all be doing it and show some respect x

today is Remembrance Day (or Armistice Day) but it is not Remembrance Sunday. It is easy to see why the two get confused

Yes, that’s a fair enough point.

There needs to be a time when it's not seen to be 'compulsory'

If people want to mark it , that's fine. If people don't want to mark it - also fine.

Exactly.

It's like the way every single person on TV has to wear a poppy for these two weeks. Even if they're recording something months ago that's scheduled to be broadcast now.
If everyone HAS to wear a poppy, then it's absolutely meaningless.
It needs to be a choice, to mean anything at all. If you are bullied into it by the likes of @Baluchistan95 then it's pointless.

Anyone shaming or judging someone else for not wearing a poppy, or forgetting/finding it professionally inconvenient to mark the two minutes silence, is a bully and entirely unrespectful of the freedom that was fought for. My father who served in WW2 and my friends who serve today, would be/are horrified at this sort of compulsion.

@Cosmois

We never observe the silence or wear poppies. I don't really see the point tbh. Seems like a weird, old fashioned thing. I don't know anyone that observes it, I was a long time ago and the world has moved on now. There have been many conflicts over the years and eventually after a few generations people stop caring and move on. I think most of us feel like that about WW1 and WW2 now? Obviously if you want to keep up that tradition then that is good for you, but it isn't compulsory and a personal choice. Surely you don't expect people to observe this 2 minute silence until the end of time now?

Whilst I semi agree in that I don't believe poppies at 2min silence at 11am should be compulsory and feel uncomfortable about how Remembrance has been hijacked by some right wing groups (if I remember correctly the British legion has spoken out against this). I also agree that people do move on from conflict. Writing about conflict in the 15th century for example is quite objective and academic interest.

However the danger with just moving on from the world wars is that there was a clear escalation in scale and devastation in those wars (and the civilian impact). If we forget what are World War is like we risk another, and the available weapons are even worse now... we are very protected from the reality of war in this country and I think that is dangerous.

@justustwoandmoo

YANBU. I would have done the same as you. We stopped in work and when I have been in the gym during the silence the whole place has stopped. We should all be doing it and show some respect x

Show some respect, or feel some respect? If it's about showing respect, then it's performative and not genuine. Because unless someone in that gym is actively serving, who exactly are you showing respect to?

I was disappointed nobody in my office apart from me one other bothered to observe the 2 mins silence,

What is “the” 2 mins silence? “The” 2 mins silence is on Sunday. Remembrance Sunday. Not today. Sunday is the day when people generally bother.

@Cosmois

We never observe the silence or wear poppies. I don't really see the point tbh. Seems like a weird, old fashioned thing. I don't know anyone that observes it, I was a long time ago and the world has moved on now. There have been many conflicts over the years and eventually after a few generations people stop caring and move on. I think most of us feel like that about WW1 and WW2 now? Obviously if you want to keep up that tradition then that is good for you, but it isn't compulsory and a personal choice. Surely you don't expect people to observe this 2 minute silence until the end of time now?

Don't mind people choosing what they do but your point of view is disgusting. You should be completely ashamed.

@saraclara

There needs to be a time when it's not seen to be 'compulsory'

If people want to mark it , that's fine. If people don't want to mark it - also fine.

Exactly.

It's like the way every single person on TV has to wear a poppy for these two weeks. Even if they're recording something months ago that's scheduled to be broadcast now.
If everyone HAS to wear a poppy, then it's absolutely meaningless.
It needs to be a choice, to mean anything at all. If you are bullied into it by the likes of @Baluchistan95 then it's pointless.

Anyone shaming or judging someone else for not wearing a poppy, or forgetting/finding it professionally inconvenient to mark the two minutes silence, is a bully and entirely unrespectful of the freedom that was fought for. My father who served in WW2 and my friends who serve today, would be/are horrified at this sort of compulsion.

Hi. I do not wear a poppy. Indeed, not done so for many years. Reference your post, please provide evidence of me bullying people to wear a poppy. Why on earth would you make this up?

@Lemonsyellow it's Armistice Day today so the 2 mins silence should be today.

My grandma was 90 earlier this year. She was a little girl in the second world war. (I dislike WW2. It's not a movie). She was telling my children about her memories of it. And they are scant to be fair. Another few years and there'll be no living memories at all. And fewer and fewer people will observe in the same way.
Wars were fought from the beginning of time and we don't remember them all now.
It will be an emotive subject for people but it's a fact of life that observance, as it has been, will die out. And new things will replace it.
As I get older, I accept things change.

@closedown. "You sound like a child"

Most children have more respect and compassion than some of the posters on here so I have no problem with that. Thanks anyway.

I observed the silence but to be honest it’s people like the OP who are turning it into the ultimate in virtue signalling gesture politics and are putting me off doing it.

It used to be a quiet thing, now people on tv are trolled if they don’t start wearing poppies from October. People posting mean stuff on Facebook about people not wearing poppies in the local town centre. People wearing bling bling poppies and stuff with poppy designs all over to display how hard they are remembering.

It kind of reminds me of when the last North Korean leader died and the people were screaming, throwing themselves to the ground and tearing at their clothes to show the cameras how much more upset they were than others.

Nobody wants to do something if it becomes this ugly judgemental creepy test of loyalty like some Communist country.

[quote lollipoprainbow]@Lemonsyellow it's Armistice Day today so the 2 mins silence should be today. [/quote]
I know it’s Armistice Day today. But the 2 min silence was deliberately moved by the government to Sunday precisely to prevent people from interrupting their work on a weekday.

Also I'll just add, RBL might get 100% of sales from poppy sales, but that doesn't mean 100% goes to soldiers or veterans.

A simple Google search will tell you director is on 140k plus, not to mention the rest of the board, they have had reports they haven't paid their low level employees, put NDA clauses on employees leaving the company, and been accused of hoarding money in their coffers, rather than spending it where it needs spending.

Just an FYI for those who speak so passionately about the benefits.

If it was important to you then you should have been at a memorial service rather than swimming!

We didn't do it at my work place today 😂 it's a busy sales job so I suppose managers are thinking we can't waste two minutes being silent especially as November is our high demand season

@CupCalamity

I feel the same OP, and I'm not from a Forces family and the other side of 50 to you. Do we really live in such a self centred world that we can't spend 2 minutes thinking of others? So sad. I always observe it, it's really not hard. It should just be a given. In my workplace we all stopped and joined together in the waiting room for it.

Of course we can all do that. Why is it any less valuable if we don’t do it on the dot of 11?

Armistice Day is perhaps better thought of as being like VE Day. It has always been formally marked to a certain extent (even after Remembrance Sunday was agreed on as the national day of Remembrance for the world wars) but for many people, Remembrance Sunday is their main day of remembrance.

It gets a bit confused by the fact that 11th of November is sometimes a Sunday thus making the two days the same, by the similarity of names. And, I suspect, by the fact that there was recently an increase emphasis on armistice day due to the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war in 2018.

BBC news at 10 just said Armistice Day was to remember both world wars. Annoying. No wonder people get into rows

@MeredithGreyishblue

BBC news at 10 just said Armistice Day was to remember both world wars. Annoying. No wonder people get into rows

Yeah, I totally get why not everyone associates Armistice Day with the first world war specifically, and why it gets jumbled with Remembrance Sunday. Similar names, similar dates, lack of clarity in the media...

When I was a child and young adult, Armistice Day was barely even acknowledged by the public at large.
The two minutes silence and all the remembrance activities were all on Remembrance Sunday.

I'm trying to think back to when things began to change and 11th November started to become the focus. I'm guessing it would have been about 20-30 years ago.

Yeah, I totally get why not everyone associates Armistice Day with the first world war specifically, and why it gets jumbled with Remembrance Sunday. Similar names, similar dates, lack of clarity in the media...

I agree they get treated like the same thing. Like the 11th is the actual day, but Remembrance Sunday is the “official” marking of it.
Like having a birthday on a Thursday but celebrating at the weekend, if you see what I mean. Rather than two distinct things.

They fought and died for our freedom to do what we want, including not being silent at certain times just because others say we should

Mental gymnastics at its finest

@WheelieBinPrincess

I actually hate enforced silences, I never think about the thing I’m supposed to be thinking about. When we did at school I’m afraid I was more than likely thinking about what was in my lunchbox. When I was older i was probably thinking about if I should open the wine tonight even though it’s only Wednesday or if I turned my hot brush off.

That does NOT mean I don’t care about fallen soldiers or think about them in lots of other ways. I just think when someone says ‘now think about this thing’ it’s quite hard to do.

I have no problem being quiet during it though.

Exactly this. Throughout this day I have thought about it in my own time and in my own way but during enforced silences I end up just thinking about random stuff. Horrendous things happen in this country and all over the world all the time. We can't have enforced silences for everything.