Anyone worried about Christmas markets and terrorism?

[Singadream]

I am. Won’t stop me going - I refuse to bow to terrorists - but I can’t pretend i’m not worried.

There is so much in this world to worry about though Sing you could get caught up in it whether it be terrorists, drunk drivers, pollution, mercury in fish, etc. Try to relax a little and live life to the fullest!

It’s crossed my mind

No

The bollards are a nice gesture but nothing will stop a terrorist walking freely through the market strapped up with explosives.... but I'm from Manchester so maybe my view is coloured.

That said, i'll still be going. We've just to crack on.

No not concerned atall. It hasn’t even occurred to us not to go...Manchester markets for us over the next few days and Christmas shopping.
My daughter lives and works in the city centre and just gets on with it!! We’ve all been to the Arena recently to see Metallica. Massive security, but a great vibe and the place was packed to the rafters!! We’re in Manchester tomorrow night to see Alison Moyet too.

I was in Manchester last weekend and I was worried about it, I’m in York this weekend and I’m a bit worried about it. I’m also going to a big match in a city next weekend, which worries me more as the kids will be with me.

But it’s not going to stop me going, but I will feel uneasy. I felt i was more aware of my surroundings which probably isn’t a bad thing.

It wouldn't occur to me really. Not enough to change my plans anyway. The chance is so small, you can hide away.

That's said, I don't go to Christmas markets because I don't like mulled wine or paying £15 for a single tree decoration.

My council put up some new bollards next to the Christmas market to stop vehicles mounting the precinct. I'm surprised the council actually did good for a change! ;)

For goodness sake, people. We're in no danger whatsoever, all this hysteria is just BS stirred up by the right-wing media in order to push their xenophobic, Islamophobic, racist agenda.

That's why there are armed police and crusher barriers. You're probably safer now than you were last year

The bollards in Birmingham are massive. There’s no way you’d get a vehicle through them. But they wouldn’t stop someone on foot with a gun or a suicide explosive vest.
It does worry me a bit. I always look for my escape route wherever I am, and I won’t get myself stuck in a crowd without a clear run to an exit (that might be claustrophobia as much as anything, though!). I will still visit the Birmingham markets, because I love the atmosphere and the Christmassy smells there.
Shopping centres worry me more than the markets.

I went to an event at Durham over the weekend and they had police with guns wondering around. Terroism didn’t even cross my mind till I saw that. We’re not in a major uk city.
It won’t stop me going to a Christmas market, but makes me think twice about taking ds.

Your being pragmatic op, if you have small dc I think it's something we should all cast our own minds too and whilst we can still go out and about and carry on as normal, it's always worth glancing around, where would you run too, if you you got separated from dc what would you do... Etc ect. Better to spend a few seconds having a little think about this stuff than be caught out.

caretaker I saw a picture of a beautiful beautiful girl who was killed at concert in Manchester last year, when a man supporting isis blew up young people at Arianna grand concert. I find your comments inappropriate.

No
I'm not concerned
I do think the terrorised aren't stupid and will go for a different target next time

Yes I also agree November, caretakers remarks are particularly insensitive. I'm from the area where 4 of the people killed at the Ariana Grande concert were from & my neighbours kids were friends with one of them. I think you must be after the conspiracy theory thread .
I do worry about big crowds (don't visit Christmas markets) but I also think they'll be looking at other targets. That's the worst & most worrying thing, the unpredictability of what they'll target next, which is exactly how they want us to feel. Like a poster above, I was due at a big event in Durham at the weekend (was it good?) but didn't make it so it's good to hear the police were out in force.

I think, given recent events, it's not unsurprising if some people do have concerns about crowded places in the run up to Christmas.

I won't be visiting any, but that's mostly because I detest really crowded places and partly because we are already fully booked doing other things in the Christmas run up.

I don't think it's a bad thing to stay vigilant and assess your surroundings, but I also think that it would be a shame to stop doing things you actively like doing 'just in case', because the odds are very much in your favour.

Caretaker's comments are inappropriate, at best.

Marshmallow we've had the armed police around, on and off, since the summer. I did notice that they'd beefed up the usual road blocks with heavy vehicles, mind.

Yes. I grew up around terrorism, and am prepared to take reasonable precautions. So I will still go to to my local Christmas market, but have changed my work route to avoid walking through it when I don't have to. Although, to be fair, that's probably more motivated by a dislike of fighting my way through a festive crowd to get to work than it is by a fear of terrorism.

You’re more likely to be hit by a car walking down the street than attacked by a terrorist.

^ This

Am i the only one thinking that while we're worried about Christmas markets, concerts and shopping, they'll hit somewhere else?

I don't like November's comment about the 'beautiful beautiful girl' who was killed. If she was a plain Jane or looked like a bag of spanners, would it be any less tragic?

Sorry, just grates a bit.

caretaker you are a horse-donkey hybrid.

Bath have put up bollards for there's this weekend, I hadn't even thought about it until I saw on the news that bollards were being put up. I'm sure a lot is being done to try and make it as safe as possible.

Southampton now has metal bollards surrounding the main shopping centre and huge concrete barriers across all road access to the market. There are armed police patrolling the shopping centre. I don't think they've had to buy their own coffee for months in Pret!

@CaretakerToNuns would love to know why you think being worried about terrorism is islamophobic..

Even my one horse town in the south of Italy has put bollards up.

Last year (seeing as these threads always turn into anecdote central.. ) I was in the south bank Christmas market the evening after the German attack and in August in Barcelona the day after the Ramblas attack.

I've never felt safer tbh.

I don't find caretaker's comment any less inappropriate than the 'beautiful girl' one. Neither have any relevance whatsoever to the OP's question.

We know the redtops want us living in fear of Islam, and we all have seen enough news items about atrocities to last us a lifetime.

Pragmatism is good. Scaremongering, hysteria and mawkish gushing are not.