Will You Wear Your Poppy?
Nov 6th, 2008 by Roxana
As a child, my favorite flower was the poppy. Red paper poppies. The red poppy on the green pinafore was the only accessory we were allowed to wear, so each November, when they came with the poppy baskets, I always ran to get mine.
It never crossed my mind that wearing or not wearing the poppy was such a sensitive topic: Camilla Parker-Bowles, Lady Diana’s not so popular successor, removed her poppy claiming that the pin kept on catching in her scarf, causing a negative response on war veterans who saw this as an “insult”. Others prefer to replace the poppy for a peace symbol in Remembrance Day. And although wearing the poppy is a personal decision and therefore you could do it all year long, doing so before November 1st or after November 13th might be considered pretentious. Also, if you’re a soldier in uniform, don’t even think about showing off your poppy while shopping in Harrods: you might be offending the other customers.
My advice? Wear your poppy with discretion, keeping in mind the real meaning of it.
As these poppies aren’t the opium ones that will make you fall asleep while trying to get to Oz nor will produce morphine or heroin, hurry up and get yours, as this is the perfect time to do so. And don’t worry, if you get there late, you can always grow your own:
