Gramarye ([info]gramarye1971) wrote,
@ 2005-07-08 01:47:00
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*deliberate icon usage*
I don't know if this is apocryphal, and I'm positive it's been making the rounds of LJ, but for those on the f-list who haven't seen it....

BBC Parliament internal email:
NEWSFLASH:
There has been a widespread outbreak of grumbling and tutting today in London, along with a large number of people going home instead of to work, with a certain amount of guilty pleasure.
Sorry, bad guys. We've been bombed before, and we just adjust our day to account for it. This is London calling.

And for those who need/like/want the history? 'This is London calling' was the BBC World Service's station identification sign, used during the Second World War.

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[info]copperbadge
2005-07-08 01:02 am UTC (link)
*is still very glad you are okay*

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[info]vivien529
2005-07-08 01:34 am UTC (link)
I adore your country and it's people. :) We're listening to BBC World Service now, in fact, on satellite radio, and I was most amused to hear a lady interviewed say, "Oh yes, it's made us quite cross." in a very matter-of-fact tone.

I'm still very sorry it had to happen though. And I'm delighted you're okay!

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[info]akhmed
2005-07-08 01:54 am UTC (link)
I don't think it's true - it sounds ridiculously irresponsible, as crisis management goes. "Hey! Our transportation infrastructure is mostly halted! Let's put MORE PEOPLE ON THE STREET!"

Also, in the off-chance that the attack is two-tiered, and takes advantage of the disruption in transportation is to catch people at major sites of strategic interest, it's better to have only the critical people around until the risk can be adequately assessed.

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[info]the_marquis
2005-07-08 11:50 am UTC (link)
Well the media were passing on the official message telling people to stay where they were, to avoid that problem, until things were deemed safer (all buses trains and stations had been checked).

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[info]gramarye1971
2005-07-08 02:50 pm UTC (link)
Indeed. Most of the people who were at work were told to stay put until well into the afternoon, when you got a steady stream of people attempting to walk back if they lived even remotely close to their workplaces. And even then, most of them likely stopped off at the pub.

(Example of General Fortitude: a woman who was at my academic conference walked to Senate House from Elephant and Castle Tube station, and walked back home at the end of the day. That's nearly two and a half hours either way, possibly three if she had to take a detour. And she said this as if it wasn't anything special at all.)

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[info]pennypaperbrain
2005-07-08 10:29 pm UTC (link)
Do you mean Senate House as in UCL? If so it's only an hour's walk from Elephant and Castle, I've done it.

And I'd like to think that email's real.

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[info]windrunner1981
2005-07-08 02:11 am UTC (link)
I believe it and love it, for precisely the reasons stated by Vivien529. : ) My own moment of happy shock came while listening to the BBC news on NPR, and the man interviewed said, in the driest tone imaginable, that the real disaster would come when everyone started thinking that they needed therapy.

And who but a British Prime Minister would think of calling a terrorist attack "fairly obvious"? *Chuckles*

But it's not really funny . . . I got shivers reading that email. Even if it's not really true, it's true.

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[info]calchandler
2005-07-08 04:16 am UTC (link)
*grin* I still really enjoy the "we've been bombed by professionals, this is nothing" attitude on some LJs

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[info]gallowglass
2005-07-08 10:49 am UTC (link)
I love being a Londoner. We've seen everything and done everything and even large terrorist attacks can't do more than irk us somewhat. I can't imagine what it would take to actually impress the crowd but it would have to be bloody spectacular.

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[info]the_marquis
2005-07-08 11:52 am UTC (link)
Hi Gramarye, found you via [info]na_lon, I love that post! Glad to hear (read) that you're okay.

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[info]corvidae9
2005-07-08 04:19 pm UTC (link)
*giggles* OMG. I love Brits. :D *adopts*

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