pslewis

I watched a desperate couple, from a scandivanian country, on the news describing their terror at the hands of the Indian Ocean.

They were swimming in the pool, saw the first wave and ran into the building, the father holding tight his 2 1/2 year old son who was crying telling his daddy that he, 'was a bit scared'

The wave smashed the windows and the power pulled the child from his fathers grasp, he last saw his son being dragged away in the water ........ he has not been found

As a father myself I couldn't tell them that some people thought 3 minutes silence was, 'a bit too much bother'

I thought of them when I stopped for 3 minutes - they will think of their son everyday for the rest of their lives.

Media hype or not, 1 minutes or 3 minutes, soft or hard ....... you cannot fail to be moved to silence, surely?

Pete

Patt@firstime

At last, somebody speaks some sense!!!!! Completely agree

Matt

MattOz

We had 3 minutes at work. Was a time for reflection and everyone appeared to observe it.

Matt

Petem95

I think everyone has been shocked at the scale of the tragedy, and some of the personal stories like the one you mention, but this whole 3 minute silence argument seems to be suggesting that the people who stopped for 3 minutes care about it, and the people who didnt dont care - and thats not the case at all.

The Zohan

Agree 100% with you mr PS Lewis and observed in this house and at Jenny's place of work.

It was the very least i could do.

urban

iTrader: (1)

We had 3 minutes silence at work also.

Everyone DID observe it, and the switchboard was even put on divert to a non existent extension number.

Shaun

ajm

Hope you have made a donation proportional to your wealth Pete....

Patt@firstime

Same here, all lines in were made busy and it was observed

King RA

I've sat in silence and thought about this tragedy for longer than 3 minutes since it happened. I feel it needs to be a personal event and is something you do because you want to, not because you are told to.

...I wonder how many people were thinking for those 3 minutes 'has it been 3 minutes yet???' I bet it's more than you think.

pslewis

What I have given is for me and my god to know and not open for discussion - the important thing I gave today was 3 minutes ........

Pete

Karl 227

What sort of a question is that??

Daz34

A very moving account Pete but I have to agree with Petem95

King RA

You trying to say my happy thoughts are worth nothing?!?!?!

chris's scooby

I stopped what i was doing to observe it and reflect on the magnatude of it all.

The Zohan

BTW
Pete95, i saw and RTM'd your 'so called joke' on the holiday flights post. It got removed than kfully

Making light of such a tragedy is in poor taste IMHO!

Incidentally - I would have thought that most people could spare the time no matter what they do as a job.

Paul

ajm

A straight forward one.

These people need money at this moment in time, not cheap sentiment. Pete's loaded, I just wondered if he had put his money where his mouth is, that's all!

Petem95

Yes those 3 minutes you so kindly gave today have really helped all those starving and looking for shelter.

Petem95

I wondered where that went! Funny how an entire thread on the subject of those jokes wasnt removed however?

Tiggs

dont understand petes post????

its a sad tale but is it as bad as watching your kid die in a car wreck? or from illness? because that goes on everyday.

is it because its on TV?

is it the sad tales that we stand silent for? or the magnitude?

i see the need to give money to countries that have little chance of helping their own but i dont see how you can elevate a persons death to being worthy of something that anothers isnt...a silence.........unless its about the numbers, in which case one example is pointless.

The Zohan

Pete
I did not see the other thread and the same (i am sure) would have applied it i had.

ajm

That's fair enough.... it's just you are not usually shy about having us know your financial affairs when it involves large enough figures to impress us, therefore it would be fair to assume the figures involved in this case are on the low side based upon what you would have us know about you.

I acknowledge the assumption may be wrong of course.

astraboy

Well, lets add up the score and see what we get shall we?
North European family involved, yep thats close enough to home for me - 1 minute.

Mass media coverage, including the camera pointed in their face to tell their harrowing story, naturally, beamed live into your living room - another minute.

Involves a personal tragedy with a young child, even better, he's scandinavian and thats odds on for blonde hair and blue eyes - Thats gotta be a good 1 1/2 minutes.

That gives a grand total of 3 1/2 minutes. Lets get grieving people....

Pete you are a victim of media manipulation. I know you'll deny it till you are blue in the face, but the fact remains you are being influenced by a media industry which is telling you how to act and even more alarmingly, how to think. Whats worse is you are doing exactly what they want.

Quite frankly, from your shameless brass necked arseholery that you've displayed on here for the past number of years, I expected better from you. At the very least, I expected you to spot when you are being used.
astraboy.

Nexuas

The parents story is indeed touching, and I expect there are 100's of thousands of equally touching and sad storys from people in the area, I to am also a parent, and I care for my child more than anyone else could imagine...

However, is that story any more touching than a parent who sees there child knocked down by a car, or die from a terminal illness that they can do nothing to prevent. The answer I am afarid is NO, and do these parents get three minutes silence? Do they get 1 minute, do they get 10 seonds silence? NO they get Naff all, and probably not even a note in the local newspaper, it all goes un noticed? How many people do you think died worldwide during this oh so touching 3 minutes silence?

I am not evil or callous. Just look at it in proportion... People die, sad things happen and yes one day it will happen to all of us and we will each be personally effected by a tradgedy, but this is not going to warrent the whole of Europe stopping for it... Please step back and look at the big picture, the lives lost do mean something!! But death and sadness occur every minute of everyday...

Geezer

As a father of 2 young children, I find that account particularly harrowing. However, I have never seen the point of a silence.

I have donated to DEC, and although that will never bring back that poormans child (or indeed any other victim of the disaster), hopefully it will help to secure the survival of at least one survivor. Saving even one life in all this mess is far more important then some ineffectual silence, which helps no one. The dead are gone, there is nothing we can do about it. The living are what is important, they need supplies and help, which costs money.

I'm glad you gave Pete, but do not deride those who choose not to stay silent, their donations do a great deal more good than their silence.

Geezer

Nexuas

Sorry Tiggs to have stolen your post, but I think I was writing mine while yours was posted, but atleast it shows I am not the only person to think this...

Karl 227

Fair enough, but shouldn't that really be for Pete and God to know

Iain Young

Each to their own but personally I don't see the point of the three minute thing. What does it achieve? Do the poor people who were caught up in the tragedy feel better for knowing that some people in foreign country thousands of miles away gave 3 minutes of their time thinking about them?

Personally, I spent the 3 minutes working to earn some money and have donated it to the appropriate charities, (in fact I've donated a great deal more). Will do much more good than just standing around being quiet.

I have given a lot more private thought and reflection to this than todays media hyped 3 minutes. I think reflection on disasters of this kind should be a private matter, otherwise they lose any real meaning (people just do it because they think they ought to rather than because they want to).

Just my 2p worth...

misty

I'll tell you what. Lets have three minutes every day for the 70,00 people who die through aids and starvation every day of every year eh!!! Lets have three minutes silence for the thousands killed on our roads, or the thousands killed by smoking! No one gave the 30,000 people killed in Bam (Iran) last boxing day three minutes silence! Are these people any less worthy of it? I think we've all got a bit carried away with a disaster that couldn't be helped, and yet we do naff all for the disasters that we could stop!!! Don't use sending a couple of quid and not talking for three minutes as a way of clearing your concience!! when you do jack s**t the rest of the time. The only thing I'll be doing at midday is just what I normally do.
dave

Geezer

An estimated 150,000 children die of hunger in the world every 10 days. Who gives a **** about them? Silences are utterly useless. These people need help, not sympathy.

Geezer

dtriggs

What harm does it do to keep 3 mins silence for a particularly horrific and unlucky event ? If it affects your job then fine but lets be honest that is rarely the case. Why be objectionable for the sake of it ?