It's only 2 minutes...

[Ree]

Today was Remembrance Day, and as is tradition, at 11 am, we observed 2 minutes of silence.

We cut the sound from the radio, and the manager made an "Attention Shoppers..." announcement, asking them to join with staff in observing 2 minutes of silence.

After 30 years in retail, I don't know why I was shocked by the behaviour I witnessed, but I was.

The manager had no sooner made the announcement than one woman made a beeline for the paint counter and started talking to the clerk about a paint issue.

Another customer in flooring continued to discuss his order with the clerks.

Another man, totally oblivious to the people standing, silent all around him continued his cellphone conversation that could be heard 2 aisles over.

People kept shopping, even heading to the cash register expecting to be rung through.

Even staff continued to talk in some areas of the store.

If that wasn't bad enough, the "2 minutes of silence" ended up being less than a minute.

Absolutely disgusting behaviour, in my opinion.

[crazylegs]

Having taken part in numerous parades (back when I was a cadet) none of this suprises me anymore. I remember one year a group of kids decided to skateboard in amongst the marching parade, consisting of Cadets, Band and Vetrans (plus assorted banners and flags).

I wasn't amused.

[Sauletekis]

That's really awful... it contrasts with the footage they were showing around trafalgar square today, where drivers had stopped their cars and were observing the silence as well

[I don't work here]

Same thing here...": why are you just standing there?" Respect you be-atch.... we even dimmed the lights... people are jerks.

[BookstoreEscapee]

That's sad.

I was in the bookstore the weekend after 9/11 (I was working in Philly at the time) and they did a minute of silence. People were actually quiet for it.

The freaky part was when I was sitting at a table in the back doing some work when the President flew over on his way to NYC. He was escorted by fighter jets and we heard them roaring over the building. I wasn't anywhere near a window and could hear it quite clearly. Everyone was looking around a tad uneasily...it wasn't until later when I was watching the news that I realized exactly what it was we were hearing.

[Nashida]

That's sad. We both dimmed the lights in the cafeteria and had 2 minutes of silence in rememberence, which amazed even me. Getting these college kids to stop talking for even a second is a feat in itself.

I almost broke the silence laughing, though, because this one girl was yakking away on a cell phone but promptly got smacked by her friend who mouthed "Shut It, Dumbass".

[LillFilly]

That is sad.

Once I was actually at a medieval re-enactment over Veteran's Day. There was a cemetary on one side of the property and they began doing a memorial. Right in the middle of the field of combat in full costume in the middle of the game I froze at attention facing the cemetary when they did taps and a 21 gun salute. The other players were confused until they realized what day it was, and we all stood at attention until the ceremony was done, then went back into our roles

The sound of taps still gives me the shivers.

This reminds me of all the people who actually pretend to be in the service. There's several websites exposing them. One guy was dishonorably discharged from the navy, but was caught impersonating an AF Officer. He would attend Veteran's Parades and various functions & was caught when a real Officer's wife realized he was wearing several ribbons wrong and he kept calling the Latrine the 'Head.' That's the first I also heard of a law prohibiting the sale and wearing of medals if you didn't earn them. People like that guy make me sick. I also dislike people wearing a full set of BDUs or other uniforms incorrectly as some sort of fashion statement. Although I'm not sure how I feel about someone wearing, say, they're grandfather's or uncle's uniform or service coat. It might be a sign of respect, but not sure how I'd feel about it being used as a costume or such; kind of a grey area.

[penniless student]

Sad... Very sad.

I'm a secondary (high school) teacher, and was a bit nervous about this because I had a bottom ability set of 13-14 year olds who find being quiet very, very difficult. I couldn't believe my eyes! They sat there, eyes closed, in some cases hands folded, and were very very surprised when the time was up.

So if kids can do it....?

[fireheart]

I remember the first year that I was working Rememberance Day (we do the exact same thing in Australia, we observe a minute of silence at 11am). The store manager paged everyone over, made the annoucement, we observed the silence, then we opened the store (it was a Sunday).

Customers didn't seem to mind...

[jackfaire]

Even when I was a little kid Taps would send shivers down my spine and I knew it was important

[Teskeria]

This reminds me of all the people who actually pretend to be in the service. There's several websites exposing them. One guy was dishonorably discharged from the navy, but was caught impersonating an AF Officer. He would attend Veteran's Parades and various functions & was caught when a real Officer's wife realized he was wearing several ribbons wrong and he kept calling the Latrine the 'Head.' .

Umm, ex US Navy here. We DID call the latrine the Head. Most sailors I know today still do. but wearing the ribbons wrong, yeah, HUGE giveaway.

[RayvenQ]

I think that's the point, he was impersonating a Airforce officer yet using Navy slang.

[sportsmom]

Honestly, that's not always a dead giveaway though. I have a brother that served in two branches of the armed forces, the Army and the Navy. Plus, if someone grows up in a family with a service member and then joins a different branch, it might still stick around.

People who pretend to serve or that they have served should be beaten very violently with a very large spiky stick.

[RavenStarr]

I would love to know the reason why a person can't take 2 minutes. Just 2 minutes out of a 24 hr day. It's just really sad.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Honestly, that's not always a dead giveaway though. I have a brother that served in two branches of the armed forces, the Army and the Navy. Plus, if someone grows up in a family with a service member and then joins a different branch, it might still stick around.

People who pretend to serve or that they have served should be beaten very violently with a very large spiky stick.

Some years ago on Remembrance day we had a guy come into our store wearing an army uniform and demanding a military discount. He couldn't "find" his military ID but kept barking on about how he's been in the service for X years and serving with Unit Y currently.

There were other military in the store at the time, including a guy who actually WAS part of the Unit Y this other man was claiming he was with. He promptly told the impostor and everyone else around that the guy was lying through his teeth about being part of the unit.

My manager promptly banned the fake serviceman from the store for life.