Unusual two minutes silence

[suityou01]

SY02 and I ceased work at the allotted time and began to observe the silence. About 20s in the phone went. It was a pimp.

I silenced the call, let it go to voicemail. Time was added on for the interruption.

[fool]

We had an email this morning mentioning the two minute silence at 11am

Then at the appointed time, when I wasn't expecting anything in particular except a quiet time to discretely continue typing, a load of whistles sounded over the intercom, like the end of Blackadder series 4.

Quite evocative, but not enough to persuade a couple of thoughtless tits to stop rabbiting away behind me for the whole two minutes (Indians as it happens, without wishing to sound racist as over a million Indians fought in WW1 and 74,000 were killed )

Had same here but without any announcment that normally happens, it took me a few seconds to register what it was.

[d000hg]

Didn't you feel it would have been reasonable to walk over them and discretely tell them to stop being so disrespectful and STFU?

It's a choice. Like wearing a poppy. As pointed out their nation fought too, is it simply not the Indian custom - if so do they have another custom instead?

[NotAllThere]

It's a choice. Like wearing a poppy. As pointed out their nation fought too, is it simply not the Indian custom - if so do they have another custom instead?

It is disrespectful to your colleagues observing the silence to continue talking. It's a choice between behaving decently and being an ignorant git. Or do you think that honouring others' cultures when you're in their own country is just being intolerant?

[d000hg]

It is disrespectful to your colleagues observing the silence to continue talking. It's a choice between behaving decently and being an ignorant git. Or do you think that honouring others' cultures when you're in their own country is just being intolerant?

I think that even for English people it should be a personal choice. If you want to observe the silence, I shouldn't have to leave or feel peer-pressured into it.

[meridian]

I think that even for English people it should be a personal choice. If you want to observe the silence, I shouldn't have to leave or feel peer-pressured into it.

In this case though, your personal choice is impacting on others. Sort of like if you're a smoker and blowing your unasked-for second hand smoke over people.

[NotAllThere]

I think that even for English people it should be a personal choice. If you want to observe the silence, I shouldn't have to leave or feel peer-pressured into it.

If you stay and chat you are being very disrespectful to the people for whom the silence is important. You are saying that your right to talk for two minutes is more important than their feelings. Since shutting up for two minutes is hardly a massive burden, you are effectively saying that their desire to remember the dead of all wars through two minutes of silence is insignificant.

Causing offence just because you wish to demonstrate you have a personal choice is the action of a boorish man.