They keep a stiff upper lip...
I'm sure you've all heard by now of the events in London yesterday morning. I wasn't directly affected at all, in fact, I was participating in a celebration over the fact that we procured warm toast at breakfast when the attacks happened. However, the comments I make here are solely from my watching BBC nearly all day in the presence of native Britons.
The reactions I saw on the television and of persons around me were much like they would be at home...yet different. The press here also found the most backwater individuals in a 10 mile radius to interview on their reactions, but they were not weepy or in a state of shock. As one woman said through some missing teeth with a cockney accent, "I was a bit taken aback." She had smoke and debris all over her face and clothes, and looked like some wrought emotion would have been justifiable. I'm certain if her american counterpart had been in her situation, the reaction would have been much different. The police commissioner and Tony Blair imparted very collected remarks of concern, and panic just wasn't addressed. One of the VPO students remarked how she was surprised that the Queen didn't make a personal statement. If this were my country, I'm not sure I'd like to hear from the figurehead while watching the news to see if I could get in or out of the city or gather information on the events in general
I'm not saying that people took this in stride, and I am absolutely unqualified to speculate on the political motivations of the attackers, but I think that the British stiff upper lip from Joe Schmoe to the top is a much better reaction to a crisis than fear and panic that has been the standard response to crisis in America.
There will be more to come about the happier events of my trip, but that was just my immediate reaction to yesterday.
The reactions I saw on the television and of persons around me were much like they would be at home...yet different. The press here also found the most backwater individuals in a 10 mile radius to interview on their reactions, but they were not weepy or in a state of shock. As one woman said through some missing teeth with a cockney accent, "I was a bit taken aback." She had smoke and debris all over her face and clothes, and looked like some wrought emotion would have been justifiable. I'm certain if her american counterpart had been in her situation, the reaction would have been much different. The police commissioner and Tony Blair imparted very collected remarks of concern, and panic just wasn't addressed. One of the VPO students remarked how she was surprised that the Queen didn't make a personal statement. If this were my country, I'm not sure I'd like to hear from the figurehead while watching the news to see if I could get in or out of the city or gather information on the events in general
I'm not saying that people took this in stride, and I am absolutely unqualified to speculate on the political motivations of the attackers, but I think that the British stiff upper lip from Joe Schmoe to the top is a much better reaction to a crisis than fear and panic that has been the standard response to crisis in America.
There will be more to come about the happier events of my trip, but that was just my immediate reaction to yesterday.