Poppies in November

[lyl_devil]

I finally got my poppy today.

Quite late I know, but still in enough time, though I had a hard time finding it which made me curious.

Usually, you can find veterans selling poppies all over whatever city you live in. They're the people I always feel bad for walking past because I already have mine and haven't managed to lose it yet. (It happens quite frequently.) But tonight, 4 days before Remembrance Day, there wasn't a hint of anyone selling poppies in the mall. I finally found a box at the cash in Zellers.

I guess there are a lot of places to post a real live person, and a mall where half the stores sell them isn't a priority, but it got me thinking. I picked up on something I hadn't really noticed before now.

Where are all the poppy-wearing people?

I learned from an early age that wearing poppies in the two weeks before November 11 wasn't something you hesitated on. You bought the poppy, pinned it on and tried not to lose it in the snow (I'm from northern Ontario people, we have snow before Christmas up there). I grew up attending, and even participating in, Remembrance Day services every year, no matter how long or boring they might be. See, my parent instilled in me the belief that Remembrance Day was when you honoured the soldiers who gave their life for something bigger than you and your desire to be doing something else. They gave their lives, so the least you can do is sit still and shut up for those 2 minutes of silence. Not in those exact words, but close enough.

On the buses and in the malls, I barely remember seeing any red on people's jackets. And the people who I did see wearing the poppies, almost all fell into the same category: born and bread Canadian baby boomers, or their kids (ie. like me).

I looked around the mall today, then on the bus, and the only people I saw wearing poppies were people my parents could have gone to school with, or that I could have. We have a large multicultural population in Ottawa (not nearly as large or dense as Toronto), and I only saw these little plastic and felt poppies on certain people; people who have been Canadians for many, many generations. The lastest transplant in my family, is my grandmother who moved from England when she was 4 - the rest of my family tree is densely Canadian even further back.

And I'm sure that I'm mistaken, that there are families that are only Canadian 1 or 2 generations back that understand and respect the meaning behind Remembrance Day and poppies. I just haven't seen any this year.

Maybe it's different in other parts of the city, because I'll be the first to admit my sample size is fairly limited. (I almost want to go out polling shopping centres tomorrow - almost, but not quite.) I'm sure most government employees are wearing them, as are most of the people who work in offices downtown. But on campus, on the buses, around the hospital and in the malls? Not so much.

What boggles my mind the most, is that this is Ottawa. This is the nation's capital. Yet out of all the places I've lived, this is the one with the least patriotic spirit.

Maybe it's all the politicians.

Comments

[tarlanx]

I've got my poppy :-)

[lyl-devil.livejournal.com]

Haven't managed to lose mine. Yet. :)

[tygermama.livejournal.com]

Got mine too, the one year I forgot to buy one I was guilt-ridden for weeks, especially with both my dad's parents being vets.

[lyl-devil.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know if any of my family have been vets - it's never been something we talk about in our family, along with loads of other things - but everyone still buys a poppy every year.

[idontlikegravy.livejournal.com]

Almost everyone in the UK buys them but it's become like an automatic reflex, people don't even think about the meaning anymore. I wear a white poppy, because I believe that we should never forget but we need to move on as a world or we'll never have peace.

Coo, snow before Christmas, where I live on the south coast of England (sunny old Dorset of Famous Five fame) we live in this geographical anomaly where we never see snow. Honest, it can be snowing a blizzard 3 miles down the road and we won't see a flake. In thirty years I've seen heavy snow here three times. Being Welsh I don't like it at all. *grin*

[lyl-devil.livejournal.com]

It's sort of the same here, except with less people wearing them. Government employees wear them, for obvious reasons, but outside of that, I don't think a lot of transplanted families do which is a shame.

We got an (almost) record amount of snow last year - just over 4m - but that was mostly after January. (My only comment: 'Wow - it's actually starting to feel like winter.')

Toronto, OTOH, announces a state of emergency and calls in the army when they get more than 10cm of snow at once. True story. The rest of Canada just laughs and wishes we could disown them from being a part of Canada.

[nemogbr.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I also had difficulty finding a poppy this year. This is in London.

It may due to the unpopular wars and it has reflected upon our veterans.

We have had companies censuring their staff if they were found wearing them. End result: their employees complained via the media.

At least, they were forced to apologise or else lose custom.

[lyl-devil.livejournal.com]

The poppies were seen more today, which I was pleased to note.

I think the problem in Canada isn't so much a commentary on war (we only have soldiers in Afghanistan), but more a 'whatever' attitude. It's a Canadian thing I've seen infecting more and more areas where the public should speak up, this last election proving that.

I don't understand employers censuring staff for wearing a poppy, because it doesn't just represent this latest war, no matter how unpopular. The poppy tradition has been around longer than most of these people.

Sorry. /rant