Poppies poppies everywhere poppies!

Yes, this little red flower has been driving me nuts! You see, fellow Americans, the Canadians, with their oh-so-British background, have a tradition of wearing red poppies on their clothing to show their support for veterans and to honor the soldiers who have died. You see, November 11th is "Remembrance Day" here in the Great White North, which is equivalent to our Memorial Day (In fact, I think it's the same weekend).

But this little plastic-y wanna-be flower has taken these people over. Turn on the TV and everyone is wearing one. Walk down the street and you'll see a dozen in a single block. Walking through the airport will have you seeing red, too. It seems like anybody who is anybody is wearing one.

So what's my problem, then? Well, I don't have a problem with wearing a red poppy in honor of dead soldiers. What I have a problem with are the ramifications of NOT wearing a red poppy! Take, for example, the recent story that made big headlines in the UK and some mention here (and probably none in the US). The Duchess removed her poppy because it was interfering with a scarf she was wearing as to not offend her Islamic host. People are really angry about this! It's as if NOT wearing a poppy is a sign that you DON'T remember the dead soldiers and/or support Canada's veterans. How on this green earth did simple omission of support become synonymous with anti-support?! It's absurd!

Now, let me say for the record, that I don't mean what I'm saying to disparage any veterans or anything. If you want to support them, please go right ahead. BUT, don't look at people who haven't paid their $0.25 donation to the Veteran's Association as some sort of scum of the earth.

Bringing this conversation closer to home, the Canadian news has been reporting about a group in Alberta who have been passing out white "peace" poppies to support - you guessed it - peace! And this has, strangely, gotten the Veterans all upset! They say that what these people are doing is infringing on their trademark and it's illegal, etc, etc. Give me a break! What's worse than not supporting your Veterans?! Not supporting PEACE! In fact, the Veterans should be praising these people because if there was more peace there'd be fewer dead Veterans!

You Vets did a very noble thing in fighting for your country and you deserve to be respected for it. But don't belittle the people working for peace.