Yesterday was Remembrance Day, and something I read in the news paper made me pretty upset... only 10% of all Canadians wore a Poppy. The whole purpose of the Poppy is to say "I remember the veterans, I remember the sacrifice, Thank You." Poppies are found EVERYWHERE. In every mall, every grocery store, gas station and corner. Veterans, cadets, military personnel, and volunteers stand for hours to "sell" poppies and 90% of the masses made no effort to wear one. There have been so many people on the radio and in the news explaining why they would not be sporting a Poppy... the excuses are pathetic. Many people didn't want to wear a poppy because they always "fall off and they lose them." Its a lot easier to replace a lost poppy, than replace the life of the soldier who died for you and their country. So whats the big deal if you might have to donate a couple of times to ensure your lapel is proudly sporting a poppy? The money is going to the Poppy Fund, where the organization then distributes the donations in ways to help out the Veterans that our country forgets for the other 364 days during the year. The amount of Veterans who are homeless, or living in devastating poverty is absolutely appalling. Our government needs to step it up and do something more. Another lame excuse I heard was that people don't carry cash anymore, so they never had change to make a donation. "my dog ate my homework" is a better excuse than that. You can sign up online on the Poppy Fund website, and make donations the "plastic" way. You can even be signed up to give monthly donations that are done automatically from your account. This is 2010... everyone has a plastic card of some kind. If you drop 99 cents on an itunes download for the latest and greatest song, you should be more than willing to drop a couple bucks on some of our countries greatest citizens.
For those 10% who wore a poppy like I did, Thank You. Thank you for remembering, thank you for showing your support, thank you for not letting our Veterans think that we have better things to do then take the time, and the small amount of change to show our gratitude towards them. For the 90% of you who didn't, for whatever the the reason. I hope that you reconsider your actions next year. Maybe reading this has shown you how pathetic your excuses are, and hopefully some of you will take action by putting that plastic card to good use (for once) and make a donation to the Poppy Fund.
Thank you to all of my relatives who gave their lives for mine. I am proud to carry on your legacy, and your name in a country that is free because of what you sacrificed. I have not forgotten.
