To wear or not to wear?

We have some Germans in town, tourists.
Even they have purchased and worn a Poppy.

WEAR YOUR POPPY WITH PRIDE
Nice to see some premiership football teams with poppys on the team shirts this weekend.
Hope they all made donations to RBL.
Cheers
Jeff.

I read a follow up comment from Jon Snow on this – he stated he would wear his poppy on Remembrance Sunday.
He also says in the BBC item –

He said: “I am begged to wear an Aids ribbon, a breast cancer ribbon, a Marie Curie flower… You name it, from the Red Cross to the RNIB, they send me stuff to wear to raise awareness, and I don’t.

“And in those terms, and those terms alone, I do not and will not wear a poppy.

“Additionally there is a rather unpleasant breed of poppy fascism out there – ‘He damned well must wear a poppy!’.

“Well I do, in my private life, but I am not going to wear it or any other symbol on air.”

So he is just resisting the powers that be at C4…

Kev35 is spot in.

I think we all should wear a poppy, and wear it with pride. We must never, ever forget what all those brave men did to secure our freedom and for us to be able to live life as we know it today. Too many people take this for granted. My children’s Grandchildren must know what sacrifices were made.

We must never forget – ever.

10 years ago the only poppy you could ‘buy’ was in money terms, worthless.

Probably cost 3-4p to produce, once worn with pride for the few days up to the 11th November would normally be discarded, because next year you would ‘buy’ another and so on.

If the RBL produce a more indestructable metal brooch version that lasts years, will people not bother donating anymore? If they produce a glitzy version costing a lot more (£50 on on ebay, just had a look) , will the (real) profit not go elsewhere??

Baz

I suspect a lot of people who appear with one on TV news etc have no idea why they’ve been given one…

It must be a case of each to their own as has already been suggested. But for me it’s not a case of ‘buying’ a poppy. Like Moggy, I see my donation as paying a small part of a huge debt, one which can never be fully repaid. I find it impossible to walk past a poppy seller, even if I’m already wearing a poppy. But for me, the real importance when meeting a poppy selling veteran, is just the simple act of shaking their hand and saying thank you, irrespective of where and when they served.

Wasn’t it George Orwell who said “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm”?

Wearing a poppy is an act not only of remembrance, but of gratitude.

Regards,

kev35

a quid is reasonable I think, but it must be relative to the circumstances, a child for instance, just the act of donating some coinage should be sufficient.

I think Jon Snow had a valid point if it is assumed that he is required to wear a poppy then it could be inferred that people wear them for the wrong reasons (because everyone else is) and don’t fully appreciate or understand the symbolism or meaning behind the poppy.

However don’t forget this article is from 2006 and I don’t know what he is doing this year.

I agree, he has the right to choose. Personally, I always buy a few as they get lost and pin them to the childrens school coats as well and they know why they have them. I wear them up until Remembrance Sunday, and get my first one any time leading up to it.

I was pondering today posting a question about what what one puts in the “pot” today for a Poppy, but again that is totally down to freedom of choice. I would like a wristband instead (harder to loose) but the Poppy is iconic as it is I think, the only thing I would change is to have a safety pin with it !

I crosspost this from another forum with no comment on its veracity. If it is true I am appalled.

The poppyshop were selling beautiful Swarovski poppy brooches for £9.99, which have now sold out. Now of course they have popped up on ebay and some are going for stupid amounts.

One person is selling them for £125 yet only donating 20% to the RBL, another person is selling but some of the money is going to GOSH (which is a great charity, but surely it should go to RBL?? It’s a Poppy!!)

I buy a new poppy every year and wear it for about a week prior to the 11th. What other people do and why is of absolutely no interest to me whatsoever and the inference people draw from the wearing or non-wearing or the period of wearing is also of no interest to me, nor should it concern anyone else.

We are all free to do what we want and when we want.

I like to wear one, but I’m always loosing the flippin’ things 😮

Nexy year I’ll get one of those pin badges, sorted 😉

.. it should be down to my own personal choice as to when and where I choose to wear it…shouldn’t it?

Absolutely. Freedom of that sort is what those remembered fought for.

However, I see wearing my Poppy, visiting the cemeteries and keeping memories alive as a very small way to repay a tiny part of the debt I owe.

For that reason I will continue to wear it for as long as I can. I can see no other choice.

Moggy

I think Jon Snow had a valid point if it is assumed that he is required to wear a poppy then it could be inferred that people wear them for the wrong reasons (because everyone else is) and don’t fully appreciate or understand the symbolism or meaning behind the poppy.

However don’t forget this article is from 2006 and I don’t know what he is doing this year.