The Poppy Appeal

In the UK (and the rest of the Commonwealth), Veterans' Day doesn't exist. Instead, the 11th of November is called Rememberance Day, which is commemorated by the sale of poppy lapel pins made of a foam-rubber like substance. I was discussing this with one of my classmates, and he explained that "We can't actually remember the veterans; we remember the events. If we remembered the veterans, we might show actual appreciation for members of our armed forces, and that would call into question the personal worth of the aristocracy, and we can't have that." He was being partially sarcastic, I think (I still don't quite have him figured out).

In a related area, there is a display in the cathedral yard (in front of the statue of Richard Hooker, to be exact) commemorating those who died in the various wars of the past few decades. There are sections for every branch of the military, and several other areas, such as the merchant marine and civil defense. Here's what it looks like:



In a completely unrelated area, I tried to exchange my computer today at Curry's Digital, but they didn't have the replacement in. Sadness. They promise it will be in tomorrow, though, so I can finally get the swap done!