POPPY DAY EXPERIENCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 8

POPPY DAY EXPERIENCES.

A holiday reflex somewhat threatened Poppy Day prospects this year. There was an alarming quietude about the streets at times and one trembled for the results. Again, I had some interesting experiences for this, my contribution to the Poppy Day fund. My first visiting purchasers this year were two ladies from Invercargill, where they have recently had their Poppy Day. The} told me they had a sacred concert first, to meet the expenses of the poppies, so that went to the profits." Then came & f ntle ™ with an unimpeachable English accent who w to know "What is all this about?" After having Poppy Day explained to him, he gave 2/6 foi shilling poppy, but I am curious to know where a gentfeman with an unimpeachable English accent who doesn't know what Poppy Day is can possibly have come from. _ , Soon after this two gentlemen of China bought a poppy to decorate their van—without asking any questions. And there was a gentleman from Wellington who couldn't remember how much they got there the other day for poppies, but he bought one for Auckland, too, and wished us luck 'and hoped we would get the same amount as we did last year. Then there are always those delightful contributors, the "Yes-111-buy-one-with-pleasure" ladies and gentlemen, which generally means a coin of bounty, and the "Now-I-can-see-you-think-I'm-a-probable-case" kind of gentleman, who gives almost before he is'asked. And theie is also the purchaser with a vein of humour, who, while hunting for a coin, says, "I suppose you d like to take all I've got," while he transfers a tantalising bundle of bank notes from one: pocket to another. His contribution, too, is usually a substantial one. And there is the nice gentleman who asks for "One, two, three—yes, now let me see I'll have five one-shilling ones, please, anil away he goes looking almost like another collector. And there are always a few escapees. One of these this year appeared to be very angry when asked to buy. "But lam a Zhurman, he said. "I fight against der Anzacs," which left me ruminating over the details of the Gallipoli campaign, though I suppose our New Zealanders who fought on the Western Front also come under the heading of Anzacs. However, his accent, or rather °his broken English, did not ring very true, and anyhow the lady he was with was wearing her poppy with a smile. And so we go through the day. I had a number of replies this year to the effect, "I've bought one, thank ypn, but I've lost it." I became so impressed with this in due course that I invested in a quarter of a pound of pins at the nearest stationers, after which I found that most people were glad to know that they had pinned their poppies on securely. The quarter-pound will probably serve for two or three more Poppy Days, so it's not extravagance, and perhaps it would be to advantage if all could do this. Purchasers would then not have to hide theiir poppies in their pockets and handbags, as some do. And so a constant stream of cheerful acquisition to requests to "Buy a poppyresulted in quite a weighty box for me, about six pounds, I should think, though two. years ago I got an eight-pounder with very little playing of the line. One can only hope that the requirements of our returned men who are up against fortune just now will be proportionately less as the years go by. What we would all like best, of course, would be to see them all enjoying the best of life's luck, but, failing that, we are not going to forget our debt to them on Poppy Day as long as Poppy Day comes round. 11 J -BARBARA BUSBY.