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kangeikoI'm home and I'm alive and I'm safe and I'm even - dare I say it? - smiling. Or wearing a look of grim determination, at any rate. I left the office at around half past 3, and made it home for around 6 because waterloo station was open and trains were running out of London.
To get from my offices in New Cavendish Street to Waterloo Station, I walked along Regent Street, then Oxford Street, then the middle of Soho, then Shaftesbury Avenue, then Charing Cross Road, then through Trafalgar Square, then along the Strand, across the bridges and through the subway. It was bright and sunny, and I was surrounded by hundreds of people doing the same. And you know what? No one was panicked. No one was upset. I suspect that everyone had done their panic and upset thing immediately after hearing / feeling this, as I had done. By midday, judging the impact, there was simply a look at how to best manage the situation. No one wanted to make things worse by panicking, or flooding the streets. Offices started emptying out slowly, with people volunteering to stay late to make sure that the system wasn't flooded and others leaving early to see what exactly was available.
So, I set off, ready to brave traumatised crowds. Except that the crowds weren't actually crowds, per se, and not precisely traumatised. I mean, sure, there were people - and it was really odd to see empty shops and cafes all along Oxford Street - but they weren't in crowds. In fact, the number of people seemed perfectly proportional to the size of the road. There was no traffic, apart from emergency vehicles and people on bicycles and a couple of cabs, maybe. No one was running, or rushing. Instead the people sort of flowed towards the station, as if we were in some giant queue. Which I suppose we were. Once we got to the station, we filed quietly on the train, listened to the train guard assure us that they were doing everything possible to ensure our safety, and we travelled in peace and quiet, with complete strangers swapping stories and experiences in hushed voices.
People didn't look frightened, or cowed. They just looked... determined.
And you know what?
I'm going back to work tomorrow.
So there.
ETA: Some words from some fellow Londoners, collected from various LJs and webpages:
London
Tony
Ken
In response to any alleged incidents of "bravery" on my part excusing me from housework -
"You're not traumatised, you're just noisy."
and
"We lived through worse in the Blitz." (because, yes.)
and, finally
"'I've lived through a terrorist attack' doesn't mean you get out of taking the bins out."
A sensible philosophy, I feel. (I made tea.)
For those that want to help - some sensible suggestions
and
General love for Graeme who is a mate of mine and who,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
queenspanky tells me, was down the street, is a National Rail person with big arms and was shifting wreckage. He's getting a hug ASAP.
Finally, lots of love to lj in general. People have been wonderful and supportive, and, speaking as a Londoner with many friends overseas, I especially appreciated all the offers to contact people abroad once the phone networks came down. I dealt with many frantic overseas voicemail messages once the phones started working again.
I'm going to go to bed, now. Take care, people. I'll see you tomorrow.
To get from my offices in New Cavendish Street to Waterloo Station, I walked along Regent Street, then Oxford Street, then the middle of Soho, then Shaftesbury Avenue, then Charing Cross Road, then through Trafalgar Square, then along the Strand, across the bridges and through the subway. It was bright and sunny, and I was surrounded by hundreds of people doing the same. And you know what? No one was panicked. No one was upset. I suspect that everyone had done their panic and upset thing immediately after hearing / feeling this, as I had done. By midday, judging the impact, there was simply a look at how to best manage the situation. No one wanted to make things worse by panicking, or flooding the streets. Offices started emptying out slowly, with people volunteering to stay late to make sure that the system wasn't flooded and others leaving early to see what exactly was available.
So, I set off, ready to brave traumatised crowds. Except that the crowds weren't actually crowds, per se, and not precisely traumatised. I mean, sure, there were people - and it was really odd to see empty shops and cafes all along Oxford Street - but they weren't in crowds. In fact, the number of people seemed perfectly proportional to the size of the road. There was no traffic, apart from emergency vehicles and people on bicycles and a couple of cabs, maybe. No one was running, or rushing. Instead the people sort of flowed towards the station, as if we were in some giant queue. Which I suppose we were. Once we got to the station, we filed quietly on the train, listened to the train guard assure us that they were doing everything possible to ensure our safety, and we travelled in peace and quiet, with complete strangers swapping stories and experiences in hushed voices.
People didn't look frightened, or cowed. They just looked... determined.
And you know what?
I'm going back to work tomorrow.
So there.
ETA: Some words from some fellow Londoners, collected from various LJs and webpages:
London
Tony
Ken
In response to any alleged incidents of "bravery" on my part excusing me from housework -
"You're not traumatised, you're just noisy."
and
"We lived through worse in the Blitz." (because, yes.)
and, finally
"'I've lived through a terrorist attack' doesn't mean you get out of taking the bins out."
A sensible philosophy, I feel. (I made tea.)
For those that want to help - some sensible suggestions
and
General love for Graeme who is a mate of mine and who,
queenspanky tells me, was down the street, is a National Rail person with big arms and was shifting wreckage. He's getting a hug ASAP.Finally, lots of love to lj in general. People have been wonderful and supportive, and, speaking as a Londoner with many friends overseas, I especially appreciated all the offers to contact people abroad once the phone networks came down. I dealt with many frantic overseas voicemail messages once the phones started working again.
I'm going to go to bed, now. Take care, people. I'll see you tomorrow.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 06:14 pm (UTC)Anyway, I was glad to hear you're OK.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 06:20 pm (UTC)Too right, if we let them get us down, they win. Let's show 'em we're not scared.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:51 pm (UTC)And isn't it weird how everyone is going around like it's the Blitz? I swear, even teens arenodding sagely and saying, "we had worse during the war." Hell, even I was saying that, and I'm foreign(tm)!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:53 pm (UTC)*g* It's amazing, you know, we fight and we bicker and we are completely undignified, but do something like this, and then all of a sudden a stiff upper lip comes from nowhere and you find yourself queueing calmly.
maybe it's something in the water.
Anyway, I was glad to hear you're OK.
*hugs* bless you honey. How much do I love my flist? *snuggles*
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:56 pm (UTC)I reckon it's down to all the tea drinking. Someone should do a study.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:56 pm (UTC)Oh God, I was completely freaked to start off wit. Starting off the day thinking, "that's a bit odd," and then hearing about a train crash andimmediately thinking "terrorists" - and then the news says that it was trains colliding - I felt so silly! It was this great big relief, you know? No, it's just LU, nothing as scary as terrorists. Except that then things changed, and the people in my office started crying... Really, it wasn't until midday (when some enterprising soul braved the lock-down to find an open shop to sell some tea bags and milk) when we sat down with a nice cuppa that everything was better.
It's true. Tea makes everything better.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 08:59 pm (UTC)*hugs you*
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 09:15 pm (UTC)Crazy. Tracey and I went out for a fag and to get milk and chocolate, and then we all sat around and made sure everyone knew where their loved ones were. And then we went for a gin and tonic. Almost like an average day.
I'm so glad you got home safe honey, we were all worried about you. Graeme was a street away from Kings Cross and had to help clear stuff up. I think he's really shaken. Hugs.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 09:21 pm (UTC)*squish*
no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-07 10:02 pm (UTC)~*~*~*My thoughts and prayers are with the people of London*~*~*~
RE: Tea
Date: 2005-07-08 10:58 am (UTC)Tea makes everything okay.
Everything is so much better after tea.
After work today I am going to find a friend of mine who was cleaning up wreckage yesterday. I shall make him tea. Yes.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-08 11:02 am (UTC)Have a look at the Times today. At least one third of the op-eds reference the Blitz in some way.
I'm so glad you got home safe honey, we were all worried about you.
It was all rather uneventful, thankfully. Got home and had a very long, very hot shower. I may have scrubbed my skin off.
Graeme was a street away from Kings Cross and had to help clear stuff up. I think he's really shaken. Hugs.
I know, I spoke to him last night. I'm going to see if I can stop by and make him some tea today. He really sounded upset. Not entirely surprising, though, given the limbs and the, the, well, given everything. I can't quite believe that they just sent him home in that state, the poor lamb.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-08 11:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-08 11:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-08 11:08 am (UTC)