A work colleauge of mine tragically died 2 weeks ago and his funeral was today. we asked the management if we could hold a 2 minutes silence for him at the time of his funeral and we were told no.
But on July 7th this year we held a 2 minute silence for the victims of the London Bombings.
So my question to them was - Why can't we hold one for someone we knew and worked with, but we have to hold one for something that happened 100 miles away to people that we never even knew and took place 1 year ago??
Was it a ''the whole country is doing it, so we ought to'' thing?
What are your views on this??
2006-07-17 06:08:15 · 17 answers · asked by kirkswahpedal 2 in Social Science ➔ Sociology
''the whole country is doing it, so we ought to'' I can see your point on that one. what would happen in a busy workplace if everyone had to stop for 2 minutes everytime someone died. can you imagine the chaos in a place like a hospital?
But I can see your point about paying respects to a close and loyal colleague. If you worked for a small firm and the person in question was well known and well liked by everyone then I think it is nice thing to do.
recently there was a minutes silence in our local for a guy who had been murdered. I felt sorry for the guy's family but this guy was not a nice person and was well known but generally disliked. why is it that you suddenly deserve respect just cos you died a violent death?
society gets stranger by the day!!
2006-07-17 06:18:28 · answer #1 · answered by xoymaq 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This 2 minute silence thing seems to have been hijacked.The service of remembrance at the cenotaph includes the silence as a pause for reflection both for the waste of a generation through military incompetence, and the brave ultimate sacrifices given by the military since the first war. It is the magnitude of the event and gratitude to the dead to which we pay homage.The London tube victims gave nothing , they were just unfortunate victims of brainwashed bigots.The loss of a close friend can be mourned in private, and in my case recently, more than once in a day and for more than a couple of minutes.Your boss was right in nipping this silly trend in the bud.
2006-07-17 17:11:27 · answer #2 · answered by melv 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are absolutely correct. Their thinking seems to be that the people who died in the London bombing were somehow heros. I am sure that I feel deeply aggrieved that those people had to die, but I am also sure that you felt as deeply aggrieved that your colleague had to die. I think your bosses may have reacted to the somewhat swollen patriotic line, but those people in London were not soldiers, were not fighting, were just trying to get to work. Perhaps the 2 minute silence is an apologia?
But forgetting the whole political thing, why could you not have a 2 minute silence for your colleague? It would have helped you through the grieving process a little bit, and would have harmed no one.,
2006-07-17 14:57:36 · answer #3 · answered by Delora Gloria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally I think the management you work for is a bit heartless! They could have been left short staffed if many of you had take the day off to actually attend the funeral. So the least they could have done is granted you your two min silence so you could pay your respects in your own way.
2006-07-17 13:14:54 · answer #4 · answered by Beckylou 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your management was wrong. It would have taken 10 minutes out of your working day to show respect for your colleague, their employee.
They are acting as if you are all automatons, when in fact you are a team. It was a short sighted managerial decision which is likely to cause resentment between the workforce and them.
I strongly suggest that you don't react badly to their decision; in this type of situation you can never tell if they are trying to provoke a reaction or just being dumb. Its not worth losing your job over and it tells you a lot about your managements attitude towards their workforce.
2006-07-17 13:16:39 · answer #5 · answered by sarah c 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I tend to find that these organised pauses for reflection are merely crowd mentality in huge numbers. Noone I know is seriously reflecting or thinking of those who died. I feel that yourr company has the wrong idea, but perhaps if you showed that you would do it out of work time they would realise how much this guy meant to you all and let you have a moments silence next year.
My sympathies for your loss
2006-07-17 13:12:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that is appauling. Someone needs to make at stand and tell managment they are heartless. This happened to me at my old work and in the end we just did it anyway - anyone that called was put on hold for a minute and then we expalined the situation when the minute was over - all the callers were very understanding.
2006-07-17 13:14:08 · answer #7 · answered by lovethesun 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your management are horrible people, what is two minutes out of their working lives when your collegue no longer has one, sorry for your loss :(
I don't understand why they didn't allow this, it's wrong. From there answer to your question it seems they have not grasped the whole idea of having a silence. Its to show your respects for those that have died , not to be a sheep!
2006-07-17 13:16:13 · answer #8 · answered by rach 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
very good question. Although the death of ppl, is always sad, we must realsie that ppl die all the time and u should prioritise the death of someone close 2 you who you knew rather thatn just complete strangers (although important). We must put things in perspective. Look how many died in 9/11 for example (over 3000 to 52) in london. Your boss sounds like a prick
2006-07-17 13:14:24 · answer #9 · answered by sexgod 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Companies all over are becoming the same. They have no heart and they don't care about you or anyone else that works there.
I don't know when this change happened. Everyone is a social security number and everyone is one minute away from losing their job. I'm glad I am old and not working any longer.
2006-07-18 00:54:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋