My daughter R lives in South London and works part-time to support herself in a posh coffee bar near the Tower. She uses London Bridge Station routinely and crosses London Bridge every working day.
On Saturday she went to Cambridge and coming back was diverted by police - she was close to the area of the attacks but not actually there. She ended up staying with friends in Essex, as north/south travel that evening was understandably chaotic.
She's a dedicated theatre person, with both a BA and an MA in the field, working incredibly hard to gain experience in directing and performing, leaping at every opportunity for work in her field while accepting that she needs to do minimum-wage jobs to make ends meet. Somehow she juggles it all.
Today she posted on FB
So after a day of getting up at 5, stupidly leaving my wallet at home, doing the early morning shift at my minimum wage job and having to borrow money to get the train home because buses don't accept change in London (I would have been 50p short anyway), I am now going to vote. And though I rarely lay all my emotions out for the world to see I will tell you why.
Because I am selfish
- and would like to succeed in my chosen field and have the two degrees I worked incredibly hard to get mean something.
- and would like to continue to have access to medical treatments and advice that HAS SAVED MY LIFE a number of times without having to further cripple myself with debt.
- and the afore mentioned minimum wage barely covers the costs of living in fact often doesn't and even a small increase would be a HUGE help.
Because I care about others
- and want to be able to afford to help those people I walk past on the street everyday who are not always begging. Sometimes they are simply having to sleep in a doorway and just want to be left alone. But they shouldn't have to.
- and I want the local and national arts communities to grow rather than dwindle and be able to continue the incredible work I see them do every day.
- and think a move towards a fairer world is the way to help others.
And finally because I walked across London Bridge today for the first time since Saturday’s events.
On Saturday I ran. I cowered. I cried for those who died and were injured.
I was scared.
But I refuse to allow my fear to mean that my rights are taken away because of three twats.
Human rights are something we are born with, not given, and should be protected. The Tories want to take away that protection supposedly to make us 'safer', but that fundamentally affects our way of life as a direct result of a terrorist act. I will choose freedom over 'safety' on someone else's terms.