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No change after the bombsThe first bombs in London happened when I was in Tokyo. The webmaster of this site was at King's Cross when one of the bombs went off, and watching his video footage on the BBC website was very strange, given the close ties he and I have. The second attempt happened when I was in Bangkok heading for the UK, and I watched events unfold on the news channels in my hotel room, another bizarre experience. I arrived in London a few days later and it was still a topic heard everywhere. I had read that the country had changed a lot and this seemed to be the case when I got here- everywhere I went I heard something connected with the bombing. However, within a very a short time, London has reverted to the city I knew and loved. You can take the Underground without any fear or looks, and people are more concerned about the results of the cricket than they are about potential bombs on the Tube. When I was in Japan and Thailand, I heard a lot on TV about the spirit of London and how the bombs wouldn't affect people's lives, but coming back and seeing how true this is has reminded me of how much I love this city. A few weeks ago I was thousands of miles away watching a friend's footage of a disaster, yet within no time we were meeting and chatting all night without mentioning it. It hasn't ruined or even affected life seriously here at all. 2 CommentsLeave a comment | |
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I was totally amazed when watching from so far away at how calm and efficient everyone was. No hysterics, and carry on as usual. It's taken the back seat it should have. You're right, London won't change.
My sister in England calls and emails me every day, yet we barely mentioned the bombings, in fact I don't think we did. I had a call on my birthday from my cousin who lives in London, and I started to speak of it, but she'd "progressed" long after it all, and actually said, "What? Oh, yes," and then continued to talk about other things that were far higher on her agenda.
A tragedy is a tragedy, an atrocity is an atrocity, and no one can really say that one is "worse" than another. I don't think they can be compared. But I am thinking of Katrina. The bombings came, went, and doubtless there will be more, but the carry on spirit of the Londoner can't be doused. If Katrina, with all its mismanagement had occurred on the streets of London, how would that old Dunkirk spirit have dealt with it all?
Clean up and carry on? Probably.
What do you think?