Conversation heard this morning in a coffee shop between a nice old man and the nice but ditzy barista:
Barista: So, what did you do for Remembrance Day?
Man: I was in the honour guard at the Butterdome service.
B: Oooh, cool!
M: I've been doing the honour guard for the last 20 years.
B: Fun! Do you enjoy doing it?
M: Well, no, but I have to do lots of things I don't enjoy. Remembrance Day is not about enjoyment.
He was kind and nothing in his tone came across as lecturing, it was just a simple statement of fact for him. She was looking uncomfortable and and awkward, so at that point I bailed her out and commented to him that it was an important and special thing that he does and other brief small talk about Remembrance Day while we waited for our orders to come up. I thanked him and wished him a good day.
Although the turnout at the service I went to was the largest I've seen in several years, it's unfortunate and a little disheartening that the overall trend in attitude seems to be that November 11 is losing relevance and is becoming just another day off from work or school.
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