Aibu to say telling us to be on the alert is a bit of futile advice

[yellowbird11]

Theresa May tells us we all should be on the alert for terrorists. I wonder what she thinks we should be looking out for. Terrorists are hardly going to be walking round wearing masks and carrying guns. If they were going to come into a packed bar or restaurant they aren't going to draw attention to themselves until it's too late. It seems to be the same old tired advice churned out after every terrorist atrocity.

Well what do you expect them to say?

What should she be saying instead?

I think she means be alert for more subtle things than a masked gunman! Suspicious behaviour, unattended bags, people who look like they're 'scoping' venues etc

x-post!

But advice doesn't become less relevant because you've heard it before. And if you think your neighbours are acting strangely, then report it. It might be simply that they're a bit weird, or it might be an important piece in the jigsaw puzzle of an investigation.

They've caught people before due to people noticing them acting suspiciously I think? The man yesterday at Gatwick and the man that had something in his shoes a few years ago.

I think if you were to see something that seemed unusual or behaviour that set off your radar you'd be right to report it to the authorities.

I think that's what she may be getting at.

A police officer friend told me that an individual can't realistically stop an attack. However, if you are even slightly on the lookout for anything dodgy, your reaction to anything happening might be slightly quicker than if you weren't, and that could make the difference to how you come out of it. If that makes sense.

I take this advice to mean be generally more switched on to what's going on around us, subtle changes in people's behaviour, weird comings and goings etc (in addition to the more obvious unattended bags in airports stuff). I'm a bit of a nosey cow so am always on the look out for anything 'off'

It's a generic reminder not to be complacent. It also highlights our need to be careful with our own bags, our own behaviours.

As others here, I lived through the joint fears of the IRA and the nuclear attack. We were constantly on alert. In a few cities (we moved a lot) we were often stopped and spoken to, evacuated from shops, herded away from certain areas, close to controlled explosions, DH was trapped on a roof for hours in London, 2005, we have lived in cities where the bins were removed (that happens at Critical), near army bases when the coloured stoppers come out of the guns (also at Critical).

All that was required of us, The Public, was that we didn't make any sudden moves, kept our bags close, kids closer and then carried as normal.

That's it!