London's Calling
Well it's 1450hrs and I've been hitting 'refresh' on my browser since this morning to follow events via the BBC website. Sitting at work, doing nothing.
I've established that the majority of my London circle of friends are safe and sound, which is a miracle considering all of them use either Kings Cross, Liverpool Street or Bank tube station to get to work. Although not quite on the Madrid scale in terms of casualties, today's events certainly make the activities of the violent G8 protesters seem even more pointless.
As I write this a BBC radio reporter is announcing that people should move around as little as possible in the capital, and preferably stay where they are. The transport network is obviously completely down (tube closed for remainder of today, no buses in zone 1).
I came to work this morning blissfully unaware of events unfolding around me.
I overheard a colleague talking about explosions and seconds later whoever made it to work today was gathered around the TV set. The initial chaos was abundantly clear.
There were no clear reports as to exactly what had happened, how many incidents had taken place, how many people were hurt and indeed who was to blame.
As always I left home with my camera. My boss suggested we all go home, but several of my colleagues insisted we stay for our own safety. This forced me to follow events from my shit Mac feeling completely paralysed and frustrated. Not that I could have done much had I been let out of work, but every atom in my body told me I had to hit the streets and somehow help document the chaos and soak up the atmosphere. This was not a cynical urge, because I see nothing funny in what has happened. But having to pretend to work whilst my city was under attack seemed completely idiotic.
What surprised me was the fact that several of my colleagues just sat at their desk, diligently slaving away, showing absolutely no interest in the mayhem unfolding less than a mile away in all but one direction. It's not like millions of lives or indeed £'s depend on the work done in this office. Wow! I am really surrounded by sad, strange people….
One of them approached me wit a work related question, to which I could only muster a blank stare as a response. What is wrong with people? Outside the front door Londoners were dying as we spoke, yet the only thing some of my work 'mates' could worry about was the extent to which a particular grant offered was for research or education.
What a strange day so far. I have a feeling it will get a bit weirder before it's over.
I've established that the majority of my London circle of friends are safe and sound, which is a miracle considering all of them use either Kings Cross, Liverpool Street or Bank tube station to get to work. Although not quite on the Madrid scale in terms of casualties, today's events certainly make the activities of the violent G8 protesters seem even more pointless.
As I write this a BBC radio reporter is announcing that people should move around as little as possible in the capital, and preferably stay where they are. The transport network is obviously completely down (tube closed for remainder of today, no buses in zone 1).
I came to work this morning blissfully unaware of events unfolding around me.
I overheard a colleague talking about explosions and seconds later whoever made it to work today was gathered around the TV set. The initial chaos was abundantly clear.
There were no clear reports as to exactly what had happened, how many incidents had taken place, how many people were hurt and indeed who was to blame.
As always I left home with my camera. My boss suggested we all go home, but several of my colleagues insisted we stay for our own safety. This forced me to follow events from my shit Mac feeling completely paralysed and frustrated. Not that I could have done much had I been let out of work, but every atom in my body told me I had to hit the streets and somehow help document the chaos and soak up the atmosphere. This was not a cynical urge, because I see nothing funny in what has happened. But having to pretend to work whilst my city was under attack seemed completely idiotic.
What surprised me was the fact that several of my colleagues just sat at their desk, diligently slaving away, showing absolutely no interest in the mayhem unfolding less than a mile away in all but one direction. It's not like millions of lives or indeed £'s depend on the work done in this office. Wow! I am really surrounded by sad, strange people….
One of them approached me wit a work related question, to which I could only muster a blank stare as a response. What is wrong with people? Outside the front door Londoners were dying as we spoke, yet the only thing some of my work 'mates' could worry about was the extent to which a particular grant offered was for research or education.
What a strange day so far. I have a feeling it will get a bit weirder before it's over.
posted by tseuq at 7/07/2005 03:12:00 pm
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