Farce at Ceremony - Failure to take oath/affirmation

[giramondo]

As most applicants know at this stage that at the ceremony, one is required to make an Oath of allegiance (or you can make an Affirmation if you prefer not to swear by God) and a pledge as part of the ceremony.

Today I observed the following in my citizenship ceremony at Cambridgeshire County Hall

- Two ladies who came together completely missed the plot and failed to stand when asked to take the Oath, indicating that they wanted to take the non-religious Affirmation instead. But when the other group stood to make the Affirmation, they also failed to stand in time - so no affirmation was made from them in the public ceremony.

- A couple from Poland were in front of me in the queue to register. After being handed the words to the Affirmation, they insisted that they wanted a religious Oath, the clerk rearranged the seating and issued them with the wording of the Oath.
Then, when the group was asked to stand to take the oath, they then verbally indicated they would like to take the Affirmation. What is going on with these people?

I question whether they understood what was going on. Failure to understand the explanation the council clerk seemed like a bad understanding of Life in the UK...

Has anyone observed anything farcical at the ceremony?

[cyborg001]

Yeah it sucks that a lot of people see this as a mere time wasting formality rather than a responsibility and privilege. Hence, patriotism etc. are in decline.