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A positive note on such a poignant day.

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  • A positive note on such a poignant day.

    Ten years ago today I was about to board a train on my way to London. A Virgin Trains Rep came along the platform to tell us that there would not be a train service to London due to an incident on the underground. We went home and watched the rolling news and the horror unfold. The next morning we were on the first train to London.
    There have been many programmes and reports on 7/7 but one thing that stood out for us was that although the mood in London was sombre it was also positive. That piece of curtain was still shielding the Bus outside the BMA. Most of the Underground was still closed off and when you did manage to get on a tube it was eerily quiet. This was a city in shock and mourning and yet……There was something that smothered all this. An overwhelming atmosphere of comradery and humanity.
    I have always thought that the famous ‘spirit of the blitz’ was a load of b*****t propaganda. The media convinces us that London is a cold city where people would step over a dying man and ignore a cry for help. All the recollections and stories told by the people who were in the thick of it on that dreadful morning are peppered with acts of outstanding courage and kindness. Strangers taking off their coats to wrap around the injured. Strangers crawling through the wreckage to comfort the wounded and the dying – despite the fact that they may have also been in danger. Remaining amongst the carnage to give succour and aid came more naturally than their instinct to flee.
    Four people did something wicked that day. Those of us who weep as the names of the dead, strangers to most of us, are scrolled on our screens cannot comprehend their actions. But remember that London has a population of more than 8 million. Many more people come into London for business or pleasure so on a sunny summer morning it is natural to assume as many a 12 million could be in the capital. Only 4 people caused this catastrophe. Not hundreds but thousands answered the call for help. Transport and even accommodation were freely offered, thousands of emergency staff who were not on duty turned up for work. At the end of this tragic day people went home to wash off the blood of strangers they had helped.
    Like others I grieve for the innocent lives lost but I cannot remember 7/7 with undiluted horror. I saw a group of people regardless of race or religion stripped bare of all but their basic humanity doing all they could to help those in need. Today is such a sad day but surely it must be a comfort to us all to see that when our backs are to the wall the vast majority of us do not become feral savages but compassionate, resourceful and often extraordinarily brave human beings.

    An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good'!
    ~ Anonymous
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

    as a native londoner.. it shook me to the core.
    yes, London is a dirthole, but its MY dirthole, and how dare anyone attack it!

    I had my hubby in a white van, my brother in law 5 mins away from Kings Cross station at work, my BROTHER is an underground driver and my sister on a bus headed for town.

    HORRIBLE day

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    • #3
      Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

      London certainly isn’t a dirthole! It has always been my favourite city in the world and I am lucky enough to go there quite a lot. Last week I spent a couple of days doing research at the National Archives out at Kew. I am a regular feature there! As I was going down into S. Ken tube station an old woman in full Islamic garb was struggling to get a large shopping trolley down the steps. No less than 3 people offered to help her. I know I am not a Londoner, I am not even British but I was beaming with pride.

      An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good'!
      ~ Anonymous

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      • #4
        Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

        it is to a Londoner

        but yes, its good for multiculturalism and people actually helping each other! and you dont need to be British to be a Londoner, its like the Irish, you dont have to be Irish to be Irish!!

        I lived in Camden up to the age of 27 and longed to get out, typical city kid longing for the country, and was living in Yorks when it all kicked off. I remember watching Tavistock Square, a favourite hangout as a kid, and Kings Cross and knowing there was a distinct possibilty that he was the driver of the train that went BOOM. I couldnt raise him or my husband and the sheer anger that someone had attacked my hometown, well the London Pride sizzled!! I reached my brother in law who told me that a group of cabbies had arrived at his depot and shephereded them all out to safety and my other brother in law (who should have been walking his dogs in Tavistock Square) had fallen over the day before and had his right knee elevated at the time, and unable to walk.

        My sister was on a London bus, and told me afterward that they had all been evacuated off the bus (i think me screaming GET OFF THE BUS NOW!! down the phone at her helped) and a cabbie took her nearly 4 mile home for nothing!

        People slag Boris Johnson off but by God he took to task and got it sorted!! He walked in to town with his broom shouting LETS CLEAN IT UP!!

        It didnt matter your faith, nationality or sex, if you had a spare room you gave it up! If someone needed food, you gave them it!!

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        • #5
          Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

          That must have been a hell of a day for you! Our mobiles started hopping when we were on our way home from the station. Few friends or family members wanted us to try to get to London the following day. We told them that the millions who had to live and work in London had no choice and anyway, why let the ba****ds win? (Oh, and we did have tickets to see the Aussies play at Lords- rarer than hens teeth!) A surprising number of people thanked us for going down the next day and showing our support. As you know the demand for taxis was incredible but strangers were asking each other if they wanted to share and who had the furthest to go. I saw many giving up their cabs to those in greater need and walking. Crowds were walking and we wound up strolling along with an Australian couple who became firm friends.
          Many of those out and about were like you and had spent many hours trying to contact their loved ones during the bombings and for many hours after. Some never would come home and although nothing will take away the pain and grief it must be some consolation that nothing will ever make us cower or give in. No one will hold us to ransom or break the spirit of this nation. Oh sure there were some tourists who ran for the hills but to see the streets crowded with all ages, colours and creeds, less than 24 hours after such an atrocity was one of the most memorable sights of my life.
          As I said before, I thought the ‘blitz spirit’ and the ‘stiff upper lip’ was a load of B*****ks dreamed up by the propaganda machine in Whitehall but I not only saw it in action, I smelt, felt and tasted it!

          An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good'!
          ~ Anonymous

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

            My husband finally contacted me at 11am after trying to contact me for about 2 hours, Brother was stuck in a tunnel for nearly 3/4 of an hour and played his ipod down the PA to his trapped passengers to keep people calm. He said someone started a competition as to what his name was and what he looked like, but no one got it right!

            He got out finally and was handed bottles of water by total strangers and asked how he planned to get home that night (he lives in Staines). Luckily the landlady of our local took him in and gave him a shower and a bed, and in the morning his uniform was pressed and ready for the next shift.

            My ex collueges on Fenchurch Street Station all called.. its literally a stones throw from Aldgate, and they had all ended up covered in tears, blood and soot, but none would change it for the world! They said they had never been wished God bless you so many times and that passing motorists were stopping and offering lifts, emergency evacuation and help with 1st aid. Alun said that one man in a white van pulled up and put 2 walking wounded on the seats and 2 stretchers, plus paramedics in the back and shipped them all to London Hospital Whitechapel.. and brought the paramedics back and offered to wait again!

            The Whitechappel Mosque opened its doors to all and sundry and had people sleeping there in the function rooms and the prayer rooms, and the local Asian community fed everyone.....

            FUDGER Isis.. THATS being a Muslim!

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            • #7
              Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

              HTML Code:
              FUDGER Isis.. THATS being a Muslim!
              That is it in a nutshell! When I first moved over here, although things had quietened down, the IRA /INLA/EJITS were still bombing the UK mainland. I wanted to scream ‘not in my name’ but I never needed to. Not once in the 28 years that I have lived here have I ever had a single person say anything offensive to me. Oh, I have been called Paddy and ‘nick knack’ (mostly by my English Husband!) but always in a light hearted manner. I have known soldiers who have done tours in NI and even interviewed a chap whose son was killed there and still not so much as an undertone of hostility. Very humbling I can tell you!
              Whether one believes in a God or prefers to dance around in the noddy under a full moon is of little consequence when another human being needs help. To me that is beyond faith or religious commitment. It is the basic instinct that separates us from the animals.
              The good news is most of us have that instinct. Your brother has it, the local landlady has it, the chap in the white van has it, the worshipers at the Mosque have it and the millions who helped be it physically or simply by saying a quick prayer hundreds of miles away have it. Why, most of the people on here who give hours of their time and knowledge for free have it! That is a good world if you ask me –we simply cannot let the actions of such a minute percentage of the world’s population destroy that. We should still sit beside Muslims on trains and busses. I would not have liked it if people avoided the seat next to mine just because I wore a coat covered in shamrocks –well actually I would have understood them running a mile to get the **** away from any nutter wearing such a thing!

              An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good'!
              ~ Anonymous

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

                I never realised I was speaking to as my late dad called it "A fellow Erin".

                Daddy was from Sligo and Granddaddy was from Co Roscommon.

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                • #9
                  Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

                  What! You mean the bad grammar and regular swearing didn’t give it away!
                  Sligo and Roscommon are beautiful parts of the country. Wherever I go in the world I seem to know someone. I met the brother of an ex-boyfriend in Sweden and my long lost daughter (long story) turned up in Australia, nursing in a hospital where a friend of mine works. As we say, ‘it is a small world but I wouldn’t like to paint it!’

                  An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good'!
                  ~ Anonymous

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: A positive note on such a poignant day.

                    "Under the colour of anyone's skin
                    Is a great big spirit wait to come in
                    It's not about their lipstick, or the curve of their thighs
                    It's the laugher in their smile, the compassion in their eyes
                    Be the white, or green or blue
                    Be they from Kilburn or Kathmandu
                    Underneath the colour of a person's skin
                    There's a whole lot of love, and a welcome in!"

                    Aiden Murphy 17.3.1975-16.3.1998

                    Comment

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