7/7
Today is one year since the bombings in central London. There have been a few helicopters flying about but doesn't seem like there is much other unusual police activity on the streets. I suspect the train and tube stations will have a bit more presence. Last year was very strange. A lot of people were delayed on their way into work, lots of talk of 'bloody tubes delayed again' and the usual email banter about the usual suspects being late. Then the news drifted in about what had happened and everyone in the office was connected to the BBC website trying to get more information. We were advised to stay in the building but no-one wanted to be here. Of course I had a deadline to meet so there was no way the company would let me go home early - bombs or no bombs, the client needs that HTML email done today, no excuses. I got released along with the rest of us mid-afternoon and headed home, expecting to see carnage and body parts all over the streets, road closures etc. But none of that. The roads were crazy as the underground had been shut and I think the buses had been taken out of action so everyone had to find alternative routes. There were a load of motorcycles with pillion passengers without helmets, but the police did nothing about it, they had enough to worry about.
When I got home the phone never stopped ringing with family all over the world checking if we had been blown up. Most were from my in-laws who were concerned about the wife, although she works in Slough which is a good 30 miles from London (try and tell a foreigner that there are parts of the country that are outside the borders of London city centre and you get met with blank stares.)
I came into work the next day as I travel into London on a motorbike and the public transport shut down didn't affect me. It was very eerie, but strangely busy with all those that showed up just going about their normal business. I suppose a lot of people subscribing to the theory that lightning never strikes twice in the same spot, or like me, work stops for nothing. The office was quiet, but central London seemed to be pretty normal. Come Monday, it was like nothing had ever happened, and it's been like that ever since.
I think the most worrying thing about these attacks, is why? At least 2 of the bombers were British, with English accents and obviously brought up here amongst British natives. What made them hate this place so much? They weren't from London, but their actions could have killed or injured their own friends and family, or friends of friends and so on. Somewhere along the line they got brainwashed by someone. It is a huge problem in this country that we welcome just about anyone, from any creed or culture. That in itself isn't a problem, what is is that once here they are left to their own devices. There is no proper integration here, you have micro-communities of all sorts all over the country. A lot of these communities are very insular, and are pretty much ostracized and certainly not encouraged to become part of the wider community. I can understand why they feel left out, although the blame must lay at their feet as well. If I moved to a foreign country, I would certainly try and find people in the same position as me, but then I would try and fit in as best as I can as well. I know I would because as a Brit, I lived in South Africa for a while. Oh well, race issues are very sensitive and I suppose they will never be sorted out, it just worries me that British people hate other British people enough to do the things they do.
We have a 2 minute silence at 12 o'clock this afternoon, and I'm wondering why, and what difference does it make? We should all remember the dead and the injured and what they went through and should think of them often. I bet no-one that bows their head today has even thought of the London bombings this year. But where does that stop? I don't recall having 2 minute's silence on the 11th of September last year, does that mean we have forgotten about that atrocity? Will we continue to have silence on the 7th of July every year until some other major catastrophe happens? When was the last time we thought about the dead from Heysel, Bradford, Lockerbie, or even the 1st world war. I'm not saying it is wrong to grieve, but we all grieve in our own way and by announcing in an office that at 12 o'clock we all have to keep quiet and think about something doesn't sit well with me. I often think about that day without having to be reminded. But that's the Brits for you, we are so politically correct here you dare not step out of line. Do you remember the furore about the death of (ex) Princess Diana? I was living in South Africa at the time and happened to overhear a conversation in a pub shortly after her accident between two South African's. One was saying that he travelled from Pretoria to Johannesburg (about 40 odd miles) to lay a wreath at the British Embassy. All very nice of him, but I wondered why Diana meant so much to him to do that, or did he do it because that's what everyone else did? It all went a little overboard, they even cancelled the football fixtures the following weekend 'as a mark of respect'. The icing was supplied from our favourite media whore, Elton John, who sang 'Candle In The Wind' at her funeral, re-released it as a single and got a lot of kudos from the public. I thought he wrote that song about Marilyn Monroe, how tacky is that to hijack it and dedicate it to someone else. Maybe the grieving was all about guilt as we did nothing as a nation but slag her off for the few years before her death.
Oh well, cynical old me will bow my head at 12 o'clock like the rest of the office and remember what happened this time last year, like I need reminding. Sorry to be cynical, but it's my blog, my opinion.
When I got home the phone never stopped ringing with family all over the world checking if we had been blown up. Most were from my in-laws who were concerned about the wife, although she works in Slough which is a good 30 miles from London (try and tell a foreigner that there are parts of the country that are outside the borders of London city centre and you get met with blank stares.)
I came into work the next day as I travel into London on a motorbike and the public transport shut down didn't affect me. It was very eerie, but strangely busy with all those that showed up just going about their normal business. I suppose a lot of people subscribing to the theory that lightning never strikes twice in the same spot, or like me, work stops for nothing. The office was quiet, but central London seemed to be pretty normal. Come Monday, it was like nothing had ever happened, and it's been like that ever since.
I think the most worrying thing about these attacks, is why? At least 2 of the bombers were British, with English accents and obviously brought up here amongst British natives. What made them hate this place so much? They weren't from London, but their actions could have killed or injured their own friends and family, or friends of friends and so on. Somewhere along the line they got brainwashed by someone. It is a huge problem in this country that we welcome just about anyone, from any creed or culture. That in itself isn't a problem, what is is that once here they are left to their own devices. There is no proper integration here, you have micro-communities of all sorts all over the country. A lot of these communities are very insular, and are pretty much ostracized and certainly not encouraged to become part of the wider community. I can understand why they feel left out, although the blame must lay at their feet as well. If I moved to a foreign country, I would certainly try and find people in the same position as me, but then I would try and fit in as best as I can as well. I know I would because as a Brit, I lived in South Africa for a while. Oh well, race issues are very sensitive and I suppose they will never be sorted out, it just worries me that British people hate other British people enough to do the things they do.
We have a 2 minute silence at 12 o'clock this afternoon, and I'm wondering why, and what difference does it make? We should all remember the dead and the injured and what they went through and should think of them often. I bet no-one that bows their head today has even thought of the London bombings this year. But where does that stop? I don't recall having 2 minute's silence on the 11th of September last year, does that mean we have forgotten about that atrocity? Will we continue to have silence on the 7th of July every year until some other major catastrophe happens? When was the last time we thought about the dead from Heysel, Bradford, Lockerbie, or even the 1st world war. I'm not saying it is wrong to grieve, but we all grieve in our own way and by announcing in an office that at 12 o'clock we all have to keep quiet and think about something doesn't sit well with me. I often think about that day without having to be reminded. But that's the Brits for you, we are so politically correct here you dare not step out of line. Do you remember the furore about the death of (ex) Princess Diana? I was living in South Africa at the time and happened to overhear a conversation in a pub shortly after her accident between two South African's. One was saying that he travelled from Pretoria to Johannesburg (about 40 odd miles) to lay a wreath at the British Embassy. All very nice of him, but I wondered why Diana meant so much to him to do that, or did he do it because that's what everyone else did? It all went a little overboard, they even cancelled the football fixtures the following weekend 'as a mark of respect'. The icing was supplied from our favourite media whore, Elton John, who sang 'Candle In The Wind' at her funeral, re-released it as a single and got a lot of kudos from the public. I thought he wrote that song about Marilyn Monroe, how tacky is that to hijack it and dedicate it to someone else. Maybe the grieving was all about guilt as we did nothing as a nation but slag her off for the few years before her death.
Oh well, cynical old me will bow my head at 12 o'clock like the rest of the office and remember what happened this time last year, like I need reminding. Sorry to be cynical, but it's my blog, my opinion.
posted by SkyBlueSnowy @ 9:03 am
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