aibu.. to cancel this London trip?

[earplugsahoy]

I am not the type to scare easily, however I am due to go with DD and DM on the train to London, go on tubes and christmas shopping on Saturday.

I am a bit freaked out, as the police have been handing out leaflets at train stations giving instructions on what to do in a terror attack. Surely if the police feel this necessary then there is a real threat?

So AIBU to cancel going? I keep having flashes of DH and dd2 sat at home with no wife / mother.. and then flashes of DD1 in a huge city in the middle of a terrorist attack. I am being nuts aren't I?

[dorasee]

It won't be fun at all with that level of anxiety. Honour your feelings, don't berate yourself for 'being nuts'. If it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right, end of. Cancel. You'll breathe more easily.

[NynaevesSister]

Yes you are being nuts but we all feel it! I live in London and did so all the way through the IRA attacks. Bombs went off twice on the train line I travelled on and the mainline station I used and a car bomb two streets away from me. That was the 80s. And there were a lot more. By comparison this is pretty safe!

[LurkingHusband]

Depends if you want the terrorists to win.

I grew up in London in the 70s, and there was no way my Mum would have changed one moment of her plans for anyone - when they closed the tubes, we'd just carry on on foot.

But then her Mum had lived through the Blitz, and passed on a you attitude.

[AmberNectarine]

You are a bit - I live in London, I get on the tubes, trains and buses every day. I have to, so does my DH. Yes, the terror threat has been increased but it has been for months now. You are still considerably more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than die in a terror attack.

I understand your concerns but apart from a slightly increased police presence, there is nothing to suggest alarm.

[Nancy66]

the terror threat level hasn't increased recently. It's been high for months now.

The reason for the leafleting/ campaign is because thousands of extra people crowd into London to shop and they want people to be vigilant.

It's up to you but remember that people who live in London HAVE to get on transport every day and feel pretty safe.

[WorraLiberty]

We've been on high level/severe level for ages.

You've just got to get on with it. London isn't the only place these things happen.

[RiverTam]

it's fine, they're simply handing these things due to the increased number of people in town.

Personally, shopping in London on a Saturday in the run up to Christmas is my idea of hell (and I have lived here for ever), it'll be rammed unless you get there early. Whereabouts are you thinking of going?

[dingit]

I understand, but it could apply to anywhere, not just London. Bluewater for example could be a target. You just wouldn't go anywhere.
Dh works in the city, I would be lying if I said it didn't cross my mine, but I try not to think about it.
We are taking our DC up on Saturday to meet friends. Just go ahead and enjoy yourself.

[TheAlias]

I know where you're coming from. After 7/7, I was terrified on the Tube but I couldn't avoid it and after a while it becomes "normal" again.

There does seem to be a heightened risk/concern ATM but I wouldn't cancel plans because of it.

OTOH, a day Christmas shopping in London sounds like hell to me, so I might well use it as an excuse not to go

[AmberNectarine]

Yes, what RiverTam said - YWNBU to cancel it because shopping in London on November payday weekend would be an absolute nightmare! I'd be more concerned about being trampled!

[Mammanat222]

I live in London and haven't seen any leaflets??

(I walk to work so don't use public transport - I do live / work centrally though)

I am not complacent but as a Londoner this is how life is. You don't automatically hear the moment they change the terror threat level?

Day after 7/7 I had to get back on the Tube as you can't let the bastards win can you?

As someone has already said this time of year it's not unusual to ask for extra vigilance due to increased number of visitors.

Personally I am doing all I can to avoid the shops but that is more to do with the crowds of people than threat of a terror attack!

[Edenviolet]

I'd be tempted to not go too. But then I am anxious and a worrier anyway.

I can completely understand why people say that "you can't let them win" but i won't be going up to London shopping/day out anytime soon if I can help it. I nearly stopped ds1 going on a school trip a couple of months ago (travelling on train to a London museum) as I was really anxious.

[MonstrousRatbag]

Well, bear in mind millions of people are getting on with living and working in London, including Central London. Until they are all advised to leave or stay at home I think your fears are exaggerated.

Also, while there may be a high risk of some kind of terrorist activity taking place in the chances of you getting caught up in it on your one outing are pretty low. High risk of attack (if true) is not the same as high risk I'll be attacked.

[Floralnomad]

Life is way too short to worry about stuff like this ,I'm going to London with Dd and dsis next week and I can't say I'd given the terror threat any thought at all . If you do decide to cancel what I would say is don't tell your dd that it is because of your fears about terror attacks .

[earplugsahoy]

We are planning a very early train, hamleys, harrods lunch and then hyde park wonderland. I really want to go as DD will really really love it. I have a wrist strap for her to be attached to me at all times (regardless of protests from her)

I am not bothered by this sort of thing usually but the leaflets have unnerved me

[Blueteas]

Millions of Londoners are living their lives as usual, as others have said. I no longer live there, but was there for the last two days for work, and am going again for the weekend with my toddler. It has never occurred to me not to go.

[googoodolly]

Millions of people live and work in London every day, and thousands more commute in and travel in by train/tube/bus, and they don't really have a choice but to carry on.

If you don't want to go, then that's your choice but I think you're limiting your life a great deal on a "but what if" scenario. You're more likely to be killed in a car crash than you are to ever be involved in any kind of attack, but that doesn't stop you driving to work or taking your DC out, right?

The UK threat alert hasn't changed for months/years, it's no more dangerous this weekend than it was yesterday or four months ago.

[FreckledLeopard]

What leaflets have been handed out ?

[keely79]

Yes you are - Londoner here who was caught up in the 7/7 bombings - thankfully not on one of the trains that were hit, but on one going the other direction down the tunnel - heard the bang and was stuck down there for hours - my mother was (understandably) going mental. Next day, I got up as normal and forced myself onto a tube to make sure I could do it.

If we allow terror threats to dictate how we live and what we do, they've already won.

[Kewrious]

I have lived at various points of my life in Mumbai, New York, Boston and now London. Every time the news would break of a new atrocity I would begin the terrifying process of calling people I knew. The Boston Marathon was particularly bad because a friend was posting messages on FB with pictures of her kids literally minutes before the bombs went off. BUT the reality is life goes on. The chances of being caught up in such an atrocity are very very small indeed. It's not just a question of terrorists winning but also of simply getting on. I won't belittle your anxiety and if you are so anxious maybe you won't enjoy the trip. But if you can overcome it, then I wouldn't change my plans at all. Although the weather is truly shite at the moment.

[NynaevesSister]

Oh boy if you get to do one of those things ... there will be huge huge crowds at all of those.

[Mrscog]

I think it depends. It's clearly a disproportionate response on your part, but as long as you recognise that and would be open to going again in the future when your anxiety has calmed then I don't see a massive issue.

If however this would be the start of a spiral where you'll never go to London again I think you should try and conquer now. I have lots of safety anxieties, sometimes I let them win, sometimes I don't. It helps keep me in equilibrium whilst staying relatively calm.

[MonstrousRatbag]

We are, also, all assuming that future attacks follow previous ones, so they will be directed at high-profile targets in Central London. But really, we don't know. So, short of living in a bunker, we've all got to just carry on. The purpose of the leaflets is not to say 'Completely change how you live' but to say 'Please be vigilant as you go about your normal lives'.

[CaurnieBred]

I would do Wonderland first thing. It gets so busy: my colleague said that when she was there last year there were so many people trying to move around that the crowd came to a standstill and people were having to lift buggies up above their heads to stop them being squashed.

Having been in a crowd similar down on the Embankment the night of the Millenium I would never take DD into an environment like that, so would aim to get there early before the crowds build up.

[Hairtodaygonetomorrow]

According to this, 24 million journeys are made every day on Transport for London.

www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/what-we-do

This means the chance of your few journys, on that one day, being subject to a terrorism attack is very small.

I do know it is scary, I was evacuated from a central london building due to a bomb thread about two days after 9/11 and I'll never forget the tannoy going 'this is not a drill, this is a bomb alert, leave the building now' over and over again- we then had to run on exiting the building to a safe area and all the police were shouting. I worked for many years in the square where the bomb on 7/7 went off on the bus and saw the aftermath. Just awful.

Not nice, but you can't stay home for years and years and the threat isn't going away any time soon.

I wouldn't go though, for all the reasons people have said, the crowds will be terrible and I just wouldn't enjoy it but that's a different problem!