# Brits-how widespread was yesterday's minute of silence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225 "2015-07-04T13:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/1 "2015-07-04T13:58:28Z")
Yesterday, Britain officially observed a one-minute moment of silence, in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Tunisia. How was it marked, and how widespread was the observance? I found only two youtube clips They showed both the formal and the informal: the Queen and Parliament standing solemnly, and [the crowd at Wimbledon rising to its feet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWlcIwn1hOk), and a beach scene where most (but not all) of the people standing still. But the same video opens with a city scene,a clock tower striking 12, but crowds of people and traffic still moving, going about their business as usual. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/3 "2015-07-04T16:12:31Z")
Hard to tell. There was no one from our town affected, so I suspect that most people didn’t. In Blackpool where some of the victims lived, there was a pretty widespread standstill. I was at home so I didn’t actually observe anything. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/4 "2015-07-04T16:38:30Z")
It didn’t happen in my workplace. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/5 "2015-07-04T16:57:28Z")
Didn’t even know it was going to happen/had happened. Don’t follow trashy pop news, and would consider it feeble sentimentalism anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/6 "2015-07-04T18:24:34Z")
Not aware of it, wouldn’t have felt the need to observe it anyway. I don’t think that creeping sentimentalism of this type is healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/7 "2015-07-04T18:36:43Z")
Read about it after it had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/8 "2015-07-04T18:56:25Z")
I’d heard about it in advance, but nothing happened at my workplace. I’m not keen on government-mandated mourning. ---
**Author:** ![i\_don\_t\_care](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@i\_don\_t\_care](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/i_don_t_care)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/9 "2015-07-04T19:03:34Z")
I didn’t even know that there was a minute silence, until I went into one of the shops, and they told us the minute had been and gone! (I was in the shop at about 1.40 pm, goodness knows what I was doing at 12 noon!) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/10 "2015-07-04T19:21:10Z")
Possibly, in honour of the recent Leap Second, these sort of people could come up with one-second silences for each future tragic event. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/11 "2015-07-04T20:59:09Z")
It happened at my workplace, but not really officially. One of the administrators sent an everyone email announcing it. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/12 "2015-07-05T13:18:17Z")
I was reminded about it in my local library at about half 11[1], but was probably outside walking home at noon and had completely forgotten it. Was not aware of the street around me falling silent either. [1] Old school librarian, I suspect she just approves of silence in the library in general 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/13 "2015-07-05T14:07:17Z")
It happened at the client site where I was working, but several people had to be noisily shushed during the first 30 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/14 "2015-07-05T15:32:48Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Not aware of it, wouldn’t have felt the need to observe it anyway. I don’t think that creeping sentimentalism of this type is healthy. I’ll observe it on Remembrance Sunday, but I find is overused these days, which devalues it. It also feels like an imposition, rather than a genuine tribute like, for instance, Villa fans minute of applause to let Petrov know he was not forgotten when he was suffering from leukemia. I didn’t observe it. It was a hot day and my local opens at twelve… ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/15 "2015-07-05T16:37:44Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > I’ll observe it on Remembrance Sunday, but I find is overused these days, which devalues it. It also feels like an imposition, rather than a genuine tribute like, for instance, Villa fans minute of applause to let Petrov know he was not forgotten when he was suffering from leukemia. > > I didn’t observe it. It was a hot day and my local opens at twelve… Yep, I think remembrance Sunday carries some weight and I have no complaints with a minutes silence then. But there seems to be a general attempt to push it for every tragedy and I think it tends to devalue all of them. ---
**Author:** ![TheSuffolkRam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@TheSuffolkRam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSuffolkRam)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/16 "2015-07-05T17:38:19Z")
I work in retail, and the chain I work for observed it, we put out an announcement over our tannoy and most people stopped for the minute. we had one customer who was annoyed to be kept waiting, but once we explained why we stopped. he was very apologetic and had clearly just not heard the announcement (or just didn’t listen). Personally I was more then happy to do the minute silence, not counting remembrance sunday and Armistice say , I think the last (that I can remember) we did extra was for the July 7th bombing from 2005 so I don’t think it overused. ---
**Author:** ![littleAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@littleAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littleAl)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/17 "2015-07-05T17:54:09Z")
I was shopping, so it was only after I got home and heard the news that I remembered that it was happening. Didn’t see anyone else taking part either. I agree with the other people saying it has become overused. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/18 "2015-07-05T20:20:28Z")
There was a minute of silence? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/19 "2015-07-07T10:30:01Z")
They’re doing another [minute of silence for 7/7](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33407554?ocid=socialflow_facebook) right now… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/20 "2015-07-07T11:13:09Z")
My workplace had a minute of silence for both the Tunisia victims and the 7/7 victims. There was an announcement before and after, and it was widely observed (apart from one person in the middle of a business call). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225/21 "2015-07-07T11:16:22Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > They’re doing another [minute of silence for 7/7](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33407554?ocid=socialflow_facebook) right now… So that’s another one that wasn’t observed where I work. I’m not sure I get the relevance of a minute’s silence for a decade-old terrorist attack. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-how-widespread-was-yesterdays-minute-of-silence/724225.md?page=2)