July 14, 2005
Awesome - London, Midday 14th July 2005
Awesome is not a word I use much; it is far more common in the US than the UK (tho' definitely becoming part of British vocabulary) and I generally don't use it. Today, however, I was struck with awe.
I was not working today, so I went into the centre of London.
The clock struck twelve midday and the city went quiet; then it went silent. Alarms were stifled, sirens were silenced. Cars, taxis, lorries and motorcycles drew to a halt. People stopped what they were doing, moved outside and stood on the pavements.
There was precious little movement as millions of Londoners, office workers and tourists alike contemplated the events a week ago today. Fifty two (so far) people were murdered in four separate bomb attacks.
We can only assume that the four misguided individuals who exploded themselves and the people around them believed that what they did was good. It was not. It was savage and unholy, no matter what religion you hold to be true, London witnessed an act of pure evil last week.
I have been criticised by a lot of friends for not maintaining this weblog. It took London to be silenced to give me the jolt I required.
London was not silenced out of fear today. London was silenced out of respect for what happened to the poor people, be they Muslim, Jew, Christian, Atheist or whatever, who were murdered last week. It could have been any of us. The victims were, for the most part, on their way to work; they were all getting on with their lives.
London has not been enveloped with fear since the attacks. I went to work the next day, travelling through one of the stations that suffered an explosion and so did millions of other people.
The backlash against Muslims has so far been limited and given that they are so important to British life and the UK economy as a whole, I imagine it will not be great if there is one. If it is then last week's events will be truly tragic.
London was magnificent today. I am proud to be a Londoner. I am not afraid.
/Dom
Hats off to the way that you guys handled the terrorist attacks. No fear! Bravo...
Posted by: AB at July 14, 2005 6:59 PMDom - very well said.
Posted by: David Rossiter at July 15, 2005 11:49 AM“London was silenced out of respect for what happened to the poor people, be they Muslim, Jew, Christian, Atheist or whatever, who were murdered last week.”
________________________
Dom, with this public stillness I had wondered if anyone who stopped and observed these few moments of silence realized this is now the way the world is going to operate going forward.
You can search for reasons and motives, or try to explain the fundamental psychology of a victim lashing out against perceived unfairness. So many message boards are trying to assign blame with those being blamed only trying to get through to their detractors.
To me, the sanest way to look at London's 7-July, Spain's 11-March, and the United States'11-September, is by accepting there’s been a major shift in what people are willing to do to prove their point or in their finding a means to an end of a desperate situation.
This is now the world we live in; this is how the game plays out and the types of actions, emotions, justifications and rationalization people will use in the name of maintaining their belief system.
Adding to my own blog:
Four twisted fellows murdered 56 people a fortnight ago. Today it appears that a repeat was attempted. You mucked up the traffic for a while.
You failed.
Go away.
Take care.
/Dom
Posted by: Dom the Pom at July 21, 2005 10:48 PM