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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

"I was in Barcelona two weeks ago...it could have been me!"

223 replies

PyongyangKipperbang · 18/08/2017 00:02

"But it couldnt have been because you werent there when it happened."

WIBU to have posted that in reply on FB? According to the amount of abuse I have had, I am. But I really dont think that I am!

The person concerned (a friend of a friend I sort of know) wasnt even in that area of Barcelona, and yet has done the old "OMG I must have a guardian angel!" thing.

I would have deleted them but they got in first, which is quite annoying.

OP posts:
e1y1 · 18/08/2017 01:47

YANBU, so they "must have a guardian angel", because they were protected from a terrorist attack;

  • 2 weeks after they were there
  • In an area they weren't in

Oooohhkkayy!!

No matter where you are on Earth, at any given time, you COULD be a victim of an attack, but you're only involved if you're there at the time.

Weren't there a long drawn out live post from Jason Manford, crying on because it "could" have been him, as he was thinking of taking his daughters to the Ariana concert? I've not seen the post, but when I heard about it, I just thought you attention seeking twat.

Mysteriouscurle · 18/08/2017 01:57

I think you are a little bit unreasonable. I cant be bothered with attention seeking FB drama but I have been somewhere where there was a terrorist attack some months later(in the actual location not 5 miles away in same city) and I did think thank goodness it didnt happen whil we were there. It does rather bring it home that this isn't just something that happens to other.people. It can happen to any of us.

Didn't and wouldn't post on FB though.

Ontheboardwalk · 18/08/2017 01:59

YANBU I was a mile from an IRA bomb, half an hour from leaving Aldgate and 2 hours from the Arena bombing.

Due to these facts there is no way it could have been me. I wasn't there.

Only thing it made me do, following a request for info following the Arena event was get a dash cam!!

volovont · 18/08/2017 03:54

Yanbu

I had someone go on fb and update that they're OK after glenfell then serval more posts about it and how near they were. They live in Hounslow! So odd.

Iwanttobe8stoneagain · 18/08/2017 05:02

Think on that basis it could have been 50% if the people on here! It is scary when you see things happening in places you know as it makes it more real and you realise that there's nothing really stopping it being you next time as these things happen in places you go. My friend was in Barcelona yesterday and turns out they arrived on the scene seconds after it happened. Haven't seen them post, it could have been me!

elfinpre · 18/08/2017 05:09

It's unreasonable and crass to make it about you with a FB post. But I don't think it's unreasonable to mention that you were there recently, in passing. And it's just human nature to feel more upset when it happens in a location you have some connection with.

GeekyWombat · 18/08/2017 05:30

I have found my brethren! Shit like this is why I have to step back from Facebook when major incidents happen.

EVERYTHING DOESNT HAVE TO BE ABOUT YOU!

123MothergotafleA · 18/08/2017 05:45

All I can think about are the poor people who were killed and injured horribly and their blameless families. And wonder yet again what kind of monsters can do such a thing in the name of another sky fairy.

StealthPolarBear · 18/08/2017 06:25

Completely agree op.

Myperfectlittlefamily · 18/08/2017 06:38

Some one that i know made a similar comment after the London bridge attacks.
"That could have been me, i lived just round the corner, 40 years ago....." Also as her daughter's were supposed to go to the Manchester arena a week before and a week after the attack they are Also incredibly lucky. It annoys me no end. Whereas the many people i know that have boats Barcelona including my parents haven't commented on anything like that the most any of them have said is that they are safe after people started asking.

Mummyoflittledragon · 18/08/2017 06:46

I used to live just outside Brussels. I considered Belgium much safer than London/Paris etc before the 2016/17 terrorist attacks. I felt deeply affected by the attacks. I didn't feel the same way with Paris despite having lived just outside and going into Paris 3/4 times a week.

YABU to judge how someone feels. Everyone is entitled to their feelings. This person was just processing. It would have frustrated me. But I wouldn't have posted an angry comment.

Saysomething88 · 18/08/2017 06:50

OP when I first read it, I read it as someone had told you off for posting 'it could have been me' and then YWBU for being so self involved and making it all about you.

I can't stand people who post things like this. People died. It's a scary thought knowing how close it could have been. But it didn't happen. So why go on about it on social media.

I don't think you are BU at all. But sometimes it's easier to keep your thoughts to yourself on FB

PandorasXbox · 18/08/2017 06:55

Your comment was rather unnecessary tbh. If someone was there only a few weeks ago the place is very fresh in their mind. I don't like dramatic people posting on fb but I wouldn't have said anything like you did.

What good does it do?

Brittbugs80 · 18/08/2017 06:56

I've had three people on Facebook confirming they are safe (still in the UK) and a friend has cancelled her trip to London with her child and husband so, "we can stay at home, stay safe and reflect".

I'm not knocking any of it but we are also off to London today and I've been told I'm dicing with danger. She also told me to carry as many large bottles of water as we can in preparation for an acid attack.

TheNaze73 · 18/08/2017 06:57

YANBU.

Totally agree with you OP

troodiedoo · 18/08/2017 07:00

YANBU. Well done on calling this out. If your first thought isn't empathy for the poor victims then shh. This making it about yourself is becoming a problem.

AtHomeDadGlos · 18/08/2017 07:02

I was there 11 years ago.

Where is the cut off?

YWNBU, it's a load of bollocks.

makeourfuture · 18/08/2017 07:06

There have been terror attacks in London, Paris, Manchester, Nice, Barcelona, Berlin, and so on. It 'could have been' literally millions of people.

It is part of terrorism. It is not like conventional war, it can happen anywhere, and no one is safe.

It is this unpredictabilty which makes it so potent.

NanooCov · 18/08/2017 07:07

YANBU. A fleeting thought through your mind if you've been there recently is totally understandable but to post on FB in such an attention seeking way is completely wank behaviour.

People are tragedy ghouls.

Androidsdreamofelectricsheep · 18/08/2017 07:09

One of my friends came back the day before it happened. She was slightly shocked, because the last thing they thought of while they were there was terrorism. (She hasn't put it on Facebook). It seems like a fairly normal reaction to me.

BendydickCuminsnatch · 18/08/2017 07:09

Yes I hate that too. Although my friend was arriving (trying to at least) to an apartment in that area with her toddler just after it happened! So it really could have been them. Luckily they're not the type to make it all about them though.

PetalMettle · 18/08/2017 07:11

Agree if you want to "process" like that fb is not the way to do it.
The safety check feature I don't have an issue with - if I'd known friends were in Barcelona id have been grateful for it, and someone asked me to use it for London Bridge

PetalMettle · 18/08/2017 07:12

I also don't understand the large bottles of water. Do they think you can use them as shields for gunfire?

TealStar · 18/08/2017 07:12

I spent two weeks there eighteen years ago. It could have been me too.

MargaretTwatyer · 18/08/2017 07:14

YABU. They're actually expressing a perfectly normal sense of shock that these sort of things are happening regularly in the sort of places we go on holiday or work or shop in places which until recently were considered very safe and we wouldn't have thought twice about going. It's also expressing a sense of empathy that the people who were involved were just ordinary people doing ordinary things that the rest of us do and it could quite easily be us if we decide to go a week earlier or later or change our plans.

I think it's a far more normal and empathetic response to an attack than whinging about a fairly harmless social media post.

This is quite impressive. Normally it takes at least a couple of days for the minimising, deflecting and distracting posts to start. One within hours is quite a record.