If you don't agree with it, no one needs to know.
Why does it offend you so much that I don't?
I pay my respects and reflect on it in my own way. I don't need/want to be told when to, though I respect anyone wanting to observe a minutes silence organised, but don't object to anyone getting on with their business. I may or I may not observe it myself depending what I'm doing at the time.
Primary school didn't do the silence, secondary did.
Primary schools in Lancashire did. My son's 8 yo classmate was at the concert, as I'm sure were a lot of children from around the region who maybe need some time set apart to feel supported by their peers to share in their confusion and grief. Hopefully it would be the start of 'moving on' for them (at least for those not directly affected by the blast)
I don't really do collective grief either, but it was observed by my year 12 physics class.
its certainly worded poorly but we dont have a minutes silence when ISIS does this abroad - unless its to a white country in which case its an attack on the "free world" - and we certainly do not do it when western bombs blow up wedding parties and kill more so its not like we are universally sad about all deaths.Katie Hopkins, is that you?I'm not a fan of organised grief myself, but saying things like this is just crass.
I would prefer to say I care equally about all pointless deaths rather than be as crass as they were.
I also dont get collective grief and that only seems to have become a thing after Diana's death.
I can kind of see footflaps view but what I think he is missing is how he would feel if it was one of his nearest and dearest maimed or killed in the attack and a proportion of the population were taking the time out to give a minutes silence - I don't go for collective grief but no need to take anything away from those who have really suffered.
I got an email at 10:59 advising me of the silence. I ignored it and carried on as did my two colleagues. Who has the right to prescribe the time and duration? 11am? Isn't that the reserve of Armistice?
I'm totally pissed off with all these collective outpourings of "grief."
Idiots offering free hugs. Layabouts sitting on the floor painting empty words on the pavement. Huge piles of flowers accumulating around memorials. And don't get me started on worker bee tattoos. None of it does the families of the victims any good at all. It's just typical of these social media driven, self absorbed and undignified times we exist in now.
Meanwhile we have a bomb being sent out by the RAF marked up with a love from Manchester slogan on it.
Did they drop it on Manchester? That's where he was from, after all.
If people have to be compelled to do it or guilted into it, then it undermines the real thing. I observe these things- it's not grief, it's respect and solidarity- but I have to admit it annoys me when people give it lip service, you know fine well some people are silent but thinking about boobs.
With this one I'd have thought school kids would make more of a connection tbh, if this had happened in my town I'd have known people that were there, so how do you not look around your class and wonder? But it's a fine line between making a connection and being afraid that it's you next. And it affects people differently, how could it not?
Whether or not they should or shouldn't have the minutes silence ...the kids have been asked to do something in school and have disobeyed ... give em a slap.
Remembrance Sunday we had a minutes silence on the U6 rugby training field... you could have heard a pin drop... which was surprising really as normal training is like trying to herd cats for an hour 🙂
[quote=Dickyboy ]I can kind of see footflaps view but what I think he is missing is how he would feel if it was one of his nearest and dearest maimed or killed in the attack and a proportion of the population were taking the time out to give a minutes silence
I can't speak for footflaps, but if it was a relative or friend of mine I'd still think it weird that people who didn't know them were "grieving".
Actually that's probably not true - I don't suppose I'd give a stuff what some other random person was doing.
I mentioned this in passing but a minute's silence isn't necessarily grieving- it can be showing respect for those who've passed and remembrance, and support and solidarity for those left behind.
(actually, I can only think of a single minute's silence I've ever done that I'd consider to be personal grief)
This may or may not be relevent. I was recently in a play that featured a scene of simulated sexual violence that was attended by a number of schools. Without exception, for the schools audiences the racy scene was met with laughter, and the response of the cast was, with one exception, an angry condemnation of "them bloody kids" - the exception was the star of the show, a lecturer, who was happy to get a response. The nature of the response, he would argue, is irrelevant in the context of them seeing something they've not seen before, in that respect nervous laughter might be expected, and any kind of reaction en masse indicates an engagement wwith what they're seeing, which is to be welcomed. Hearing him say this totally changed my outlook on it, and made it a much more enjoyable play to be part of.
Silences aren't really my thing, grief isn't really a collective thing imo, neither do I really understand people actually grieving about people they don't actually know, but each to their own. I wouldn't disrespect them if i'm in attendance. If I actually disagree with a silence, I'd probably just make sure i'm not there.
I don't think they should be enforced upon children though. If you are going to do that, well you're just going to have to accept that a large percentage of them probably won't have a scooby and some disruption is likely, don't be getting yer knickers in a twist about it.
Applause's are generally a better way to go about it, imo, cuts out the space for the idiots to fill, but they aren't always appropriate, and wouldn't be in this instance.
How often is that as I really can't remember the last time
Westminster attack - at least in our business. When someone dies in an incident at work (Depressingly, twice in last 12 months). Before football matches a few weeks ago for Ugo Ehiogu...
