Remembrance Day

It was very touching that the two minute silence was well-observed at my office.  I was prepared for the moment but in the plethora of work, it escaped my attention until I heard the cannon being fired from nearby Fort Amherst, echoing across the Chatham valley.  For a split-second, it puzzled me but the sound's significance was total after that and I fell silent, stopping work and looking away from my screen.  In a call-centre, one cannot account for every worker and one person was wrapped up in their call as to forget for a full 40 seconds that the rest of the workplace had descended into respectful quiet.  Another person was oblivious as this immediate hush and twenty seconds pondered aloud, "I can't find anything in The Daily Mail about the typhoon," before I stared angrily at her, pointing at my watch and she blushed.  There was no Last Post sounded as in church but in a way, taking this break, the chattering of the modern world drawing to a halt, this is a worthy tribute to all who perished on the battlefield in the last 100 years (and before).