Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-07-14 07:06:00 - Graham Ellis
Central London. Soho. I'm running a Python course here in the sweltering heat of summer in a modern office above the streetside shops and businesses of the area - step out of the front door and you're into an area of streetside cafes and shops selling - well - things that you wouldn't expect to find in your local High Street. Londoners and tourists mingling and going about their sightseeing and regular daily lives.
I drove up to town last night, parked up at a hotel on the border of the conjestion zone, and taxi-ed in to here. I'm quite happy with driving right up to the front door, but parking would have been a joke; as it is, it was easy and I arrived fresh. The back streets hereabouts seem to be limited largely to taxis and delivery vans, and the main traffic on the more major roads seems to be buses ... with perhaps a little more presence that I'm used to of police cars. After all, it's less that a week since the four bombs went off, and less that 24 hours since the news broke that it was probably done by four British suicide bombers. London's had its bombs before and life carries on - it feels that people are pulling more together rather than going their own separate ways and you could almost say it's put the heart into the city rather than torn it out.
But there's real people who have had their lives shattered by the bombs. I arrived early and was seated at reception, and a young lady was chatting with the security staff on the desk. I couldn't help overhearing her talking about her close girlfriend, missing on Thursday and confirmed killed by the bomb on Friday. She was saying how her friend's name is in the papers now, and how seeing the other names listed around she realises that this particular family / group is one of a whole number around London who are going around in a haze - a state of shock. I rode up in the lift with her and it turns out she works where I'm training. Doesn't know how long she'll last today; her life / her pack of cards has been tossed up in the air. It will land with a hole, but I can also tell that it will land in a stronger configuration.