The railway station is crawling with police. Did they really shut down the entire system for half an hour? Looking at every backpack sideways, to try and judge whether it is suspicious or not. As the train draws in, the normal shriek of the metal takes on a more sinister tone - I think of the coverage of the Madrid bombing, the security coverage from the escalators as the explosions ripped the station apart. I feel trapped, thinking of ball bearings ricocheting between the train and the wall behind me.
I think of the London bombings, where the random choice of carriage was so vital to survival. But I am refusing to change my routine due to any sort of fear. The old British bulldog and blitz spirit, or is it just stupidity?
More worrying than any bombing, I wonder if something really bad happened in front of me, would I change my outlook and attitude on the whole terrorism and civil liberties debate? I hope not, but am not sure. And that is one of the worst feelings.
Confession time - on Friday night, at one of the bars, two Middle Eastern looking men came in - I did a double take, perhaps thinking of Bali, and am deeply ashamed at myself for doing so. Even the most liberal of us can be guilty of racial profiling I guess.
I also wonder if something bad happened, whether I would jump in to save or comfort people. I hope I would, knowing that you can't figure that out until the situation happened, but fear that I would be more cowardly.
I have a headache due to today's events - I doubt it is going to go away anytime soon.
I think of the London bombings, where the random choice of carriage was so vital to survival. But I am refusing to change my routine due to any sort of fear. The old British bulldog and blitz spirit, or is it just stupidity?
More worrying than any bombing, I wonder if something really bad happened in front of me, would I change my outlook and attitude on the whole terrorism and civil liberties debate? I hope not, but am not sure. And that is one of the worst feelings.
Confession time - on Friday night, at one of the bars, two Middle Eastern looking men came in - I did a double take, perhaps thinking of Bali, and am deeply ashamed at myself for doing so. Even the most liberal of us can be guilty of racial profiling I guess.
I also wonder if something bad happened, whether I would jump in to save or comfort people. I hope I would, knowing that you can't figure that out until the situation happened, but fear that I would be more cowardly.
I have a headache due to today's events - I doubt it is going to go away anytime soon.
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