(no subject)

Yesterday was one of those days when I wish I drank tea. Unfortunately, I'm not quite that assimilated yet. (Besides, I think they'll get me into drinking Irn Bru before I succumb to tea. Heh.)

Friendslist and metaquotes are filled with musings on the difference between the US reaction to 9/11, and the London reaction to yesterday's boms. I feel the need to point out that part of that is simply because of the difference in number of deaths, and also in material damage--I don't think even Londoners would have sprung back quite that fast if there'd been a sudden huge gap in the skyline where, say, Big ben used to be. (Although, on the other hand, if that pinapple building or the London Eye got boomed, that might have actually sped up the healing process. Snarf.)

But a lot of it does indeed have to do with the simple fact that Londoners/Brits (and mainland Europe, though not to quite the same extent¹) are just kinda used to this kinda shit. TheBritish reaction to terrorism is gallow's humour, tea, and lots of grumbling about pesky terrorists and how dare they interrupt our days, mutter mutter pish posh. And you know, in the end, I think that's better than chest-beating and vows of bloody vengeance. Not that I think those who did this shouldn't be caught and brought to justice, obviously, but I see terrorists as not unlike toddlers throwing a temper tantrum. If you pay attention to them, they'll just get louder, but if you shrug and go make yourself a cuppa, they'll see that tactic isn't working and try something more constructive.

And in completyely and utterly unrelated² news, according to this website, which is absolutely brilliant, if I take a shortcut, I could walk to/from work in about 3.3 km (that's a bit over two mile for you USAians stuck in the Imperial Stone Age. :P) That'd take me about 40-50 minutes to walk. And the weather's been nice, lately. Hm. *ponders*

¹ I think the Belgian reaction to this sort of attack would contain more panick, but also a lot more beer, for example. :D
² Well, not entirely, as I did get that link through the london07072005 community.

( Meme! )