Am I the only Londoner...

[Mustbemad123]

Who is flinching every time a firework goes off? Can't shake the feeling that London will be the next target...

I am in London and my only feeling on fireworks is that they should only be on a few nights a year, because it frightens pets.

I don't know.

I have lived and worked in London a long time. 7/7 I could very well have been on the Aldgate tube if I had not been running late for work. There but for the grace of God, etc. I too remember the Canary Wharf bomb going off.

But I feel very safe in London - and this weekend no different. You cannot measure out your life and experiences in fear of something happening, you just can't. The threat is no greater today than it was last Sunday evening, before Paris. I've been to a museum, out in the heart of Soho, walked back through Bloomsbury & Kings Cross - it was a usual Saturday night in the city. It was excellent, and there wasn't any fear in the streets. I honestly didn't think anything of it.

Thanks to PP who posted Ken's speech - I had forgotten it but agree with it whole-heartedly.

It won't change how I live my life. I work at a Govt Dept in central London and I was there in parliament when 7/7 happened. We can't let them win.

Never ever seen bag checks on the tube, random or otherwise. It would be a public safety nightmare in a crowded station.

My son has just told me he is going into uni in London tomorrow as usual. Very proud of him.
Ken Livingstone's speech (following 7/7 bombings) m.youtube.com/watch?v=9HLaS2DazZU

Just noticed Ken Livingstone's speech has already been posted. Sorry for cross posting.

I've been around Whitehall, St James, Southbank and Westminster today. If security has been stepped up further, they are taking care not to be too ostentatious about it, I must say.

Face it they don't care and when they are ready and we are all complacent they will most likely strike

unfortunately it is about being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that is life

I will not be using the tube in rush hour for the time being. It means getting up 30 mins earlier so I can talk from Charing Cross, but it'll be worth it for peace of mind. But I agree with the previous poster who said if anything happens it will be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yes, I think I'll avoid tube and Greenwich Airline crossing, if only because I'm a bit claustrophobic. If i'm going to be caught up in something awful, I'd rather not be trapped underground or in a small pod while it's happening. I'd quite like some air around me and at least a hope of running if, god forbid, anything happened.

As for the rest, Lollipop is absolutely correct. Keep buggering on.

As a PP said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't veeeeerrrryyy slightly uneasy - I work in the financial district and commute daily. There was an odd incident a couple of weeks back at Bank station where the line was mysteriously suspended and hundreds of us were all being turned around and hurried back up to street level - momentarily the weight of the crowd and the darkness was frightening, just for a moment.

I have a flicker of unease but the fuckers aren't going to interfere with my life. If it happens to me, my dh is well provided for (no DCs, just dh and an ageing dm) and I just hope I'm sitting right next to the bastard who detonates himself.

I used to have my bag checked frequently after 7/7 when boarding central line (only on the central line, in the mornings, if wearing a rucksack) I was not dodgy looking but was standard in the days after. It took 10 seconds, so wasn't very thorough - kind of like the sort of bag check you get going into museums.

Nope. Was in London for 7/7, freaked out for a day and got on with it. My grandparents lived and worked through the war here including my great grandma who wa German who was brought here for safety just before WW2 (she had dual nationality French/British husband my great grandpa).

If they bomb us I can't do much about it can I?!