Page 1 of Minutes silence: welcome catharsis or meaningless gesture?

Just popped out of work there and was in WHSmiths with my headphones on. Was browsing something or other and when i turned around everyone was stock still and silent.
Realized it must be a tribute to the 7/7 bombings.

It struck me as a strange tradition to have a minute`s silence to mark respect. It didn`t really do anything for me and i can`t imagine that if i had lost someone a year ago that it would have been any more meaningful.

So what do people think. Are they a meaningless gesture or a worthwhile token of respect?

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It didn`t really do anything for me
It wasnt meant to.

Did we have silences for the IRA bombings?

Pretty sure we did have sliences for the IRA bombings.

It`s a mark of respect for people who have lost their lives needlessly - all it asks of you is to shut up for a couple of minutes. Surely anybody over the age of 5 can manage that cant they??

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It`s a mark of respect for people who have lost their lives needlessly - all it asks of you is to shut up for a couple of minutes. Surely anybody over the age of 5 can manage that cant they??

Way to miss the point there big guy. I have no problem with them and consider it the worst manners to break a minute`s silence. I`m just asking how people feel about them. Or even what people think the point of them is?

I remember walking around the town centre in Bristol after the World Trade Centre attack, and it all went deathly quiet. I didn`t know anything about it.


The girl is Miri Hanai. Please stop emailing me! ;)

Not being funny but if it was anyone else than London that got bombed no-one would give a toss!!

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Not being funny but if it was anyone else than London that got bombed no-one would give a toss!!
Doesn`t Enniskillen, Warrington, Omagh, Madrid, Brighton or Bali mean anything.
52 innocent commuters are 52 innocent commuters for Christs sake. What difference does it make that it happened in London.

This item was edited on Friday, 7th July 2006, 21:58

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Doesn`t Enniskillen, Warrington, Omagh, Madrid, Brighton or Bali mean anything.


Yeh they do...so why dont we have a minutes silence for them?? :/

To be honest, I didn`t notice the silence happening today. I worked right through midday without realising.

Thinking about this some more, if we were to have a couple of minutes` silence on the anniversary of all innocent people being killed, then we`d never speak again!