On the 11th of November at 11am every year the world comes to a stand still, as we sit and observe a two minute silence in remembrance of those who fought in World War 1. We also sit and think about those who fought in other wars and those courageous men and women who are still fighting abroad today.

 

Yet, for some reason as I sat in my University café it dawned on me, have we forgotten Armistice day?

 

Sat there in a group of 6 we put away our phones, music and laptops and sat in silence paying respect to those who allowed us to still be here. Looking around though, it clicked that out of all the people in the café; students and lecturers alike, we were the only ones observing the silence.

 

A silence that was meant to reflect those who fought on our behalf before we were even born was filled with the noises of coffee machines, talking and even shouting. The main shock of all was that one person who spoke the entire way through, sat right next to a group of students who purposely sat with their mobiles away not saying one word. Oh, and did I fail to mention she was conducting an interview? Which I'd assume means she was more than likely a journalist and as a journalist myself the fact that a fellow journalism student didn't know what day of the year it was and decided to do her interview at that time of day shocked me. Well, it didn't just shock me, it of course, shocked my course mates who spoke up explaining to the girl who was talking that she had spoken through the entire two minute silence. She replied by saying "I did a two minute silence on Sunday at Topshop, I didn't realise we did another one today, I'm not from this country". As one who doesn't like confrontation I decided to let it slide, my outspoken course mate on the other hand does, and spoke on behalf of all of us, explaining how its a national day which happens across the world and there was no excuse.

 

I couldn't help but silently agree with what was being said, there is no excuse for forgetting a national day, and with social media there is no excuse is there? Well, I noticed that apart from the odd tweet from News sources, many didn't take to the web to share their thoughts on the day. However, if you're ever wondering when it's snowing or if a celebrity died just log onto Twitter or Facebook everyone always takes to social media to share meaningless details. Yet, things which actually matter and are critical to others are forgotten.

 

Walking past the cenotaph today I grew silent looking at the reefs others had laid down in remembrance of those who fought for our country. Walking back past it later I felt honoured to be British as I saw army veterans standing proud, displaying medals they'd won and being interview by the press.

 

So, although not all of us observed the two minute silence, those who did remember with respect, those who didn't, well, maybe more should be done to help them remember. Perhaps chiming a bell to alert people that it's 11am? Or maybe just putting a post of Facebook will do the trick.