Colchester is currently awash with floral tributes at the moment. Outside the 2 Para barracks in Mersea Road is a whole garden full of wellwishes from friends and relatives of those lost in Afghanistan - the total from that regiment is now up to 6, making it the town's biggest loss since the Falklands War.
Then also, there is the case of young school leaver Dan Andrew, who was knocked off his bicycle and killed by a speeding driver, on a particularly dangerous stretch of road near the Tesco supermarket in Greenstead. The extent of floral tributes (including football flags and shirts) has even included graffiti written on the bus stop and road signs.I'm becoming a little wary of such outpourings of emotion. In the latter case, pure and simple vandalism is involved, and as for the military loss, well, it's a very sad state of affairs, to be sure, and a sign that Afghanistan is still a problem far from solved. But soldiers go to work and put their lives on the line in active service, that's part of their job. A respectful Book of Remembrance would convey the grief and the heartache felt by so many people in a much more appropriate way. This after all, is why we have the Service of Remembrance every November.
Excessive amounts of flowers outside barrack fences seem after a while to feel like an anti-military sentiment. On that basis, I'm surprised that those in charge have allowed so many floral tributes to be laid outside their gates. The fashion started of course, with the death of Princess Diana in 1997 - a tragic event indeed, as was the death of Dan Andrew - but all these bereavements, whether soldier or civilian, have surely to be put into perspective.
4 comments:
I quite agree with you on this Joe. We do seem to have become emotionally incontinent as a society and I find this supposed 'outpouring of grief' that is often displayed both mawkish and disturbing. True, the loss of any life particularly when it is someone young, is tragic and sad but there seems to be a loss of perspective. There is something undignified and disrespectful I find about these massive floral tributes and I wonder whether those participating as it were really are expressing a genuine feeling or simply caught up in a wave of emotion.
on the other hand,i'd accuse the pair of you as being heartless
845t4r05!
until you've experienced the total numbing sense of loss and anguish at losing a loved one,no matter what the circumstances,then it's hard to comment on such affairs.
my friend,well,more of an acquaintance really,james,died of heart failure this time last year and the place where he died,in harlow,has been transformed into a permanent shrine to his memory.
the tree near to where he pulled over in his car has pictures of him,and a superman cape strung around it,in his memory,as he was a massive superman fan.
i'm having a little cry right now thinking about it,it's that sad!!!!!
come on,guys...
it's not the 1950's,
the diana thing was a load of working class twats with nothing better to do,fair point...
but the two examples joe mentions in his entry...?
especially the poor lad who was killed by a motorist,
jesus...
i'm very disappointed in the both of you and will be discussing this further at the convenient time.
Outpourings of grief are fine, but like I say, I'm *wary* of this fashion. In the case of the youngster there is graffiti sprayed on the road (and in other parts of Colchester). Frankly this is OTT, no matter which way you look at it.
And people respond to grief in different ways. Some parents would not like to be reminded about where a crash site was.
William and Harry would also not like to be constantly be reminded about Diana's death, yet still the Express would trudge out another Diana story.
PS: when my grandmother died in 1989, it was very sad and a watershed for me.
There were flowers at her funeral, and a single rose laid on the bed where she died. That said it all really.
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