The James McClean Sponsored Poppy Thread

[GHF-23]

Obviously not a particularly new observation but I walked past a poppy stall this morning and then noticed barely anyone I passed was wearing one. Definitely seems a lot more people just don't bother with it at all. Is this due to the quickly ramping up insanity every year and turning into an ersatz armed forces support season turning people off, or are folk just not bothered anymore? I think of my dad who used to always wear a poppy, despite being an atheist always went to remembrance services when I was growing up, and I don't think he's worn one since he moved back to the UK 3 years ago 

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

18 minutes ago, GHF-23 said:

Obviously not a particularly new observation but I walked past a poppy stall this morning and then noticed barely anyone I passed was wearing one. Definitely seems a lot more people just don't bother with it at all. Is this due to the quickly ramping up insanity every year and turning into an ersatz armed forces support season turning people off, or are folk just not bothered anymore? I think of my dad who used to always wear a poppy, despite being an atheist always went to remembrance services when I was growing up, and I don't think he's worn one since he moved back to the UK 3 years ago 

I think cultures just change over time.

People are increasingly spending more time in front of screens and don’t even carry cash to buy the poppies in the first place.

I also think there’s an element of taking our security and safety for granted.  In our busy lives, it doesn’t even occur to people to stop and think of the sacrifices those before us made.

I very much doubt it’s because people are being turned off by OTT displays.  People in general aren’t really bothered by that, although you’d be forgiven for thinking differently given the posts on here.

[PWL]

Probably a multitude of reasons.

Firstly the new poppies are rubbish and fall apart in minutes. 

The direct link to WW1 has gone and even WW2 is down to tiny numbers. I appreciate the Poppy is for all conflicts but they are primarily linked to those two events. My kids are older teenagers and even the like of The Troubles or Iraq barely register with them. 

There will also be a lot like me who happily tapped a £5 donation to Poppy Scotland but don't want anything to do with Remember Fest. 

[101]

20 minutes ago, PWL said:

My kids are older teenagers and even the like of The Troubles or Iraq barely register with them. 

Luckily for them there might be a re run on the cards.

[DA Baracus]

1 hour ago, GHF-23 said:

Obviously not a particularly new observation but I walked past a poppy stall this morning and then noticed barely anyone I passed was wearing one. Definitely seems a lot more people just don't bother with it at all. Is this due to the quickly ramping up insanity every year and turning into an ersatz armed forces support season turning people off, or are folk just not bothered anymore? I think of my dad who used to always wear a poppy, despite being an atheist always went to remembrance services when I was growing up, and I don't think he's worn one since he moved back to the UK 3 years ago 

Hopefully less and less folk aren't bothered. It's a load of pish that needs binned. All of it.

[Jeff Venom]

1 hour ago, CarrbridgeSaintee said:

I think cultures just change over time.

People are increasingly spending more time in front of screens and don’t even carry cash to buy the poppies in the first place.

I also think there’s an element of taking our security and safety for granted.  In our busy lives, it doesn’t even occur to people to stop and think of the sacrifices those before us made.

I very much doubt it’s because people are being turned off by OTT displays.  People in general aren’t really bothered by that, although you’d be forgiven for thinking differently given the posts on here.

It's completely possible to remember and be grateful for those who had no choice while not buying in to the present-day weaponised performance of wearing a cut out piece of red card. 

[Lofarl]

I actually bought a white poppy this year.  The red poppy has lost all meaning now its been hijacked by far right flag shaggers.

[GHF-23]

1 hour ago, CarrbridgeSaintee said:

I think cultures just change over time.

People are increasingly spending more time in front of screens and don’t even carry cash to buy the poppies in the first place.

I also think there’s an element of taking our security and safety for granted.  In our busy lives, it doesn’t even occur to people to stop and think of the sacrifices those before us made.

I very much doubt it’s because people are being turned off by OTT displays.  People in general aren’t really bothered by that, although you’d be forgiven for thinking differently given the posts on here.

I think there's something to what you say, especially purely practical reasons such as people not carrying cash. I'm not sure how "spending more time in front of screens" would relate to a lack of interest, given that most people will be using the likes of Facebook, or for instance watching television or reading newspaper websites where wearing a poppy has become ubiquitous and not wearing one a news story. 

I think your second and third paragraphs are quite revealing. There shouldn't really be any association between the commemoration of war dead - which my recollection from my youth was primarily associated with the futility of World War I - with 'our security and safety'. Even taking World War 2 that is commemorating those who defeated fascism rather than specifically our national security. Certainly there are no wars fought by the UK I can think of since where this has been a primary believable justification for the war. The dying out of the generation who directly experienced those wars has certainly contributed to this. As much as I don't think they are directly to blame I think it's been a real institutional failure by the Poppy Appeal and BL in allowing their campaigns to be politicised in the way it has - both by outside forces and, as we've seen on recent pages, people proudly being disingenuous about their service and celebrating a murderer selling poppies. 

With all due respect I think your own viewpoint, as a born-again Christian Orange March and Coronation enjoyer, isn't likely to be anymore revelatory or representative than the generally left of centre views of a Scottish Football Forum

[GHF-23]

51 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Hopefully less and less folk aren't bothered. It's a load of pish that needs binned. All of it.

So you would like more people to be bothered?

[dirty dingus]

3 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

I was in the Waffen BBs.

Our BB in Greenock was full of catholic kids as the main guy(orange order, mason) wanted a good football team. Drill marching and attending  church  was strictly on an up to you basis. Think Souness nicked his tactics.

[Florentine_Pogen]

1 hour ago, PWL said:

My kids are older teenagers and even the like of The Troubles or Iraq barely register with them.

1 hour ago, 101 said:

Luckily for them there might be a re run on the cards.

Let's just reintroduce conscription under the 'Call of Duty' flag and those pesky kids will be queuing out the door to sign up.

[ICTChris]

When I was a kid they collected for poppies in our school, everyone got a poppy and put 10p or whatever it was in the jar and we wore them for that week or until you lost them.  When I was in Scouts I'm sure we had a church service around then where we would wear our uniforms.  There was a ceremony at the cenotaph and at war memorials around the country.  This was in the 1980s which was about as distant from the Second World War as it is to the current day and was therefore a bit more connected.  There would have been a lot more (now there will hardly be any) veterans of conflicts where large numbers of people were called up and fought.  Obviously the Second World War saw the highest numbers but there were numerous wars where Britain lost thousands of soldiers, some of whom would have been conscripts - Britain had as many soldiers killed in the Cyprus Emergency in the 1950s as in the war in Afghanistan, which lasted four times as long.  1500 British soldiers died in in the Malay Emergency, I think about 500 died in the Korean War, during which time national servicemen were used in combat.  We are less of a militarised society now - it's strange that sentimentality and overt displays of poppyism and patriotism around Rememberence Day grow as our links to these conflicts end.  Actually, thinking about it, maybe it isn't that strange but I also think that it reflects developments in society.

 

 

[ICTChris]

It's unrelated but the Cyprus Emergency has always fascinated me.  Britain occupied the island and fought a fairly popular insurgency, hundreds killed and some pretty brutal tactics used by either side.  Then we left and no-one seems to give a shit now.  My dad lived in Cyprus and no-one mentioned it to him at all, I've been there loads of times and have only seen one commemoration to it, a display for EOKA fighters in a village in the mountains.  I guess they have had a more impactful war since to distract them.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

I firmly believe that there's a place for Remembrance Day and the wearing of a poppy. Raising awareness of the horrors of war and the pointless sacrifice of human lives and highlighting the likes of Owen and Sassoon (Wilfred and Sigfreid, not Michael and Vidal) over 1 day, or 1 weekend a year seems like a good and worthy thing to do.

Unfortunately we get a 4 week long jingoistic festival of nonsense that involves painting everything red and black, pinning a poppy on the cookie monster and screaming at a football presenter because he's not wearing one on the 23rd of October. Not to mention the virtue signalling politicians and media.

The whole thing has reached farcical levels and it'll probably get worse before it gets better.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

On 08/11/2023 at 23:00, HibsFan said:

Shocked that there will be zero consequences of any description for either of them. He’s served his purpose now though. The definition of a “useful idiot”.

Police giving an out or ‘insufficient evidence’ is just as cowardly, mind you. Call this out for what it is or it keeps on happening.

I dont mean to break this up with ‘facts’ but he could only be charged for wasting police time if he personally made a report to the police that he was assaulted in line with the way the PF wants it to happen. The charge relates to making a false report and knowingly causing an unnecessary investigation, the allegation was reported in a media article, you have quotes attributed but no tape recorded evidence of him saying he was assaulted (which would be at a push anyway). What you have is a wee man who’s told a lie to a journalist and its been shot down by a very senior police officer. In line with just how sensitive this whole climate is about the protests etc i think the BTP have handled that incredibly well. 

[ICTChris]

My great uncle fought in the Second World War and took home some war trophies of a Nazi breastplate and an armband that he took off a prisoner (or I guess someone he just killed). My parents were having a clear out a few months back and were trying to work out a way to sell them because you can't put Nazi memorbilia on eBay.  I think they ended up donating it to his regimental museum, he was in the Gordon Highlanders.

I kept meaning to DM @Sergeant Wilson to see if he wanted to buy it or at least knew another Airdrie fan who was interested, I assume they make up the main market for that sort of thing.

[Sergeant Wilson]

6 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

My great uncle fought in the Second World War and took home some war trophies of a Nazi breastplate and an armband that he took off a prisoner (or I guess someone he just killed). My parents were having a clear out a few months back and were trying to work out a way to sell them because you can't put Nazi memorbilia on eBay.  I think they ended up donating it to his regimental museum, he was in the Gordon Highlanders.

I kept meaning to DM @Sergeant Wilson to see if he wanted to buy it or at least knew another Airdrie fan who was interested, I assume they make up the main market for that sort of thing.

I get my gear from this site.

https://www.epicmilitaria.com/

[Florentine_Pogen]

4 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

I get my gear from this site.

https://www.epicmilitaria.com/

 

[HibsFan]

2 hours ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

I dont mean to break this up with ‘facts’ but he could only be charged for wasting police time if he personally made a report to the police that he was assaulted in line with the way the PF wants it to happen. The charge relates to making a false report and knowingly causing an unnecessary investigation, the allegation was reported in a media article, you have quotes attributed but no tape recorded evidence of him saying he was assaulted (which would be at a push anyway). What you have is a wee man who’s told a lie to a journalist and its been shot down by a very senior police officer. In line with just how sensitive this whole climate is about the protests etc i think the BTP have handled that incredibly well. 

Sorry, just to clarify: when I said consequences, I was more thinking along the lines of social ridicule and/or ostracisation / an apology statement.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

17 hours ago, BMunro said: