Poppy time

[Wing Nut]

Please remember that this Sunday is Rememberance Sunday (if I remember correctly the Americans call it Veterans Day).
So buy your Poppy and wear it with pride, someone didn't

An elderly man selling Remembrance Day poppies in a busy supermarket was attacked with a claw hammer.
The 79-year-old was taken to hospital after being struck with the weapon as he sold the poppies for the Royal British Legion in a Safeway store in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said: "The man was attacked three times with a claw hammer and was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital with head injuries."
He was released later.
A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Both the Royal British Legion and Safeway said they could not comment on the incident.

As a veteran myself this makes me sick to my heart. Please think of veterans all over the world irrespective of who's side they were on. They deserve our respect.

Mark

A nursing home attendant here was fired after striking a 80 year old resident who was a survivor of Auschwitz.  Apparently she didn't want to take a shower and he was trying to force her into the shower.  I am telling this story for three reasons.  One, people can be assholes and this guy should be arrested just on principle.  Two, if that lady didn't want to take a shower, I would say that out of anyone in that home, she had a good reason.  It may be a bit naive, but I would like to think the guy didn't make the connection between his shower and the shower she was almost certainly remembering.  People are forgetting what it was that was so important then.  With so much going on in the world today, and with WWII being so far in the past, people just don't feel an appopriate sense of urgency about those issues.  Very sad...  :-/

[BFMF]

I was talking to a lady I work with lastnight and I learned that her uncle was a pilot during WW2. On one of the missions he was shot down, captured by the germans and spend over a year and a half in a POW camp. Years later he and his family were watching a special on tv and he happened to see a clip of his aircraft being shot down. He had nightmares for weeks.

[Hagar]

I think you have to appreciate that although it's held on the anniversary of the 1918 Armistice (11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month) Remembrance Day is not only about WWI or even WWII. The money collected from selling Poppies goes to help surviving veterans of all wars, including the current business in Iraq.

Things are no longer as clear-cut as they used to be. With the multi-cultural society we now live in it's quite possible this man had some ulterior motive for attacking the Poppy seller. To some people his uniform & medals represent the possibly hated British military. The media have been very careful not to reveal his attacker's ethnic origins.

[Iroquois]

Unfortunately Ozzy, this happens all too often. There were a number of Poppy Box thefts here last year. I was in a Tim Hortons the other day and noticed they now have metal boxes with a lock on them that are chained to the counter.   :-/

If you have a chance to handel some Canadian money, check out or 10 dollar bill. It has been dedicated to our military history and the poem In Flander's Fields is printed on the back.

[chomp_rock]

It is a shame that people are so F***'n idiotic! Who would do such a thing! That angers me so!

[Polynomial]

We've been selling poppies at school and they have been selling really really fast.  We sold almost 200 in one day at at 20 Australian Cents that is quite an achievement.

[Iroquois]

[quote]We've been selling poppies at school and they have been selling really really fast.

[BFMF]

Havn't seen any being sold yet here :-/

[HerSELF]

Incidents like this make me very emotional, when I first read what Ozzy had written I sat and cried, cruelty of any kind sickens me and I wish that the world was a more loving place.

As for what Pippin wrote later regarding the nursing home attendant I am affraid I have seen this kind of behaviour all too often, I have spent many years as a nusing auxillary in various homes, this type of behaviour is not uncommon with the care staff, until very recently the only qualifications needed was the fact that you had an interest in the vacancy needing filling, you could say you have the care experience because you are a Mum, as we all know not all Mums are good Mums, it is just taken for granted that because of this "I am a Mum" statement that you are supposed to know how to look after others, at the end of the day it is all about control for these carers and a wage at the end of the week.  The caring for the patient does not even come into the mind of these heartless people.
There are ways to deal with difficult and frightened patients, but due to bad training and frankly the homes not monitoring the staff properly these incidents will continue to occur.

Enough of my rantings.

Sarah

[Hagar]

Havn't seen any being sold yet here :-/

I wouldn't expect it in the US Andrew. I'm sure you have your own Remembrance Day or equivalent.

As for Sarah's comments, I feel strongly about this too. Things like that make me terrified of getting old or becoming ill & depending on others. This business with the Poppy seller is quite different although just as serious. It was obviously premeditated as nobody except a workman would carry a claw-hammer in a supermarket or in the street for that matter.

Until the case is heard I don't know if this attack was simply a robbery gone wrong  or if there was some other more sinister motive behind it. As I've said before, this sort of thing is all too common nowadays & just another example of the violent times we live in.

[Smoke2much]

Part of the problem is that if you pay peanuts you attract monkeys.  There are many dedicated carers out there who work hard for little recognition.  But there many many more that enjoy their position of power and abuse those under their control.

The whole care industry needs tighter control, comprehensive background checking and some form of basic registration fo Nursing auxillaries and health care assistants.

Will