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Original poster

Londoners - what do you do differently since 7/7

26 replies

AnguaVonUberwald · 26/10/2006 09:29

I work in a tall building, so always take my bag with me when I leave my desk.

I just have this image of the building being evacuated, no time to go back to my desk, and being stuck, halfway across london, with no money, credit cards or mobile phone!

It seems a bit silly, but I do start to stress now if I am away from my desk and don't have my bag.

Anyone else made changes to their routine or just things that make you feel better?

OP posts:
twelveyeargap · 26/10/2006 09:37

Nothing really. I work in the City so people have been being "vigilant" since the 70's and the IRA bombs. I think if I started worrying about it I might as well not live here. I let my 11 year old take the tube alone and all I've ever done is have a chat to her about what she's do if something happened. "Something" being if the train got stuck in a tunnel to there being a security alert.

It's so easy to make a bomb and go undedected that we'd be living in Gaza Strip conditions if you believed everything about "terrorist threats". Either the security services do an excellent job or it's really not as bad as it's made out to be. Bit of both probably.

TheBlonde · 26/10/2006 09:38

Not since 7/7 but since the big power cut in 2003 - I always have a torch and water with me on the tube

sfxmum · 26/10/2006 09:39

nothing s*d them

edam · 26/10/2006 09:43

I don't do anything differently although I'm glad I haven't had reason to go on the Piccadilly line since the bombings. It's got the smallest tunnels so injuries were more severe and it took much longer to evacuate people.

Used to travel on it every day when I lived in Hammersmith and never liked the constricted space in the carriages, mainly because it was so awful when crowded (saw a few punch ups over shoving). But now I'd be slightly scared (not enough to avoid it if doing so was very inconvenient but a passing nasty thought).

Btw, I don't live in London any more, but I do come in to work.

covenoveneer · 26/10/2006 09:43

I must admit I take more notice of the people in the carriage with me when I travel on the tube these days. We nearly lost my SIL due to 7/7 (she just missed the bus that was blown up) and DH lost several work colleagues in the 9/11 bombings.

caffeinequeencanpoacheggs · 26/10/2006 09:43

I was on the tube the very next day. I wasn't able to make it into work that day and spent the day glued to the TV, feeling guilty about not being able to get to work (wtf?!)
I don't do anything differently but I can kind of see your point Angua, that would be my nightmare - being stuck without phone or cash, anywhere!

NotQuiteCockney · 26/10/2006 09:44

I don't do anything differently. But then, I could never stand public transit - I bike everywhere, always have done.

I think DH carries a (tiny) torch all the time, not sure if that's down to 7/7 or what.

CountessDracula · 26/10/2006 09:45

nothing

Original poster
AnguaVonUberwald · 26/10/2006 09:47

I just figure, that if it happens, it happens, but the chances are much higher that you end up trying to get home across london with little or no public transport. Having no money, phone etc, would just make it totally impossible!

OP posts:
Marina · 26/10/2006 09:54

Agree with twelveyeargap. I've been in the City for 12 years now and I was working the day of the Bishopsgate Bomb. I have been on my employer's Disaster Call-Out team since.
I suppose the only difference is that I am more careful about keeping my mobile charged and have also swapped numbers with colleagues.

WitchICouldGiveUpWork · 26/10/2006 10:00

Don't do anything different as am a huge believer in fate-if it's going to happpen,it's going to happen and nothing I can do will stop it.
I understand the handbag thing but if I escaped with my life I reckon I wouldn't give a stuff about my handbag.
I always take my mobile whenever I leave my desk-not because of 7/7 just always want it with me in case there is a problem with dd.

PrettyCandles · 26/10/2006 10:04

I was a Londoner until recently, and I made no changes to my life.

I will not allow terrorists to dictate to me.

End of.

Original poster
AnguaVonUberwald · 26/10/2006 10:45

WitchIcouldgiveupwork. I agree about the escaping with your life thing. I was thinking more, if it happens nearby, so we are safe, but have to evacuate the building immediatly and aren't aloud back to our desks.
I don't think there is anything you can plan for if you are actually involved!

OP posts:
foxinsocks · 26/10/2006 10:47

nuffink

though I did force dh to put an 'emergency' contact number in his phone (I quite happily did that - dh is quite militant and didn't want to do anything differently!)

MarsLady · 26/10/2006 10:48

Nothing! Still use the tube and the bus freely without thought. DD1 goes to school by tube.

Life continues on!

Bluebear · 26/10/2006 16:17

Angua - having been very close to 2 of the blasts on 7/7, with the loss of 2 work colleagues and a lot of 'trauma' (being locked down inside the building by security who thought it might have been a dirty bomb, one of the blasts was directly below the housing for many of our staff so they had nowhere to stay once we were allowed out of the building, having other staff members choose to go out (against security advice) to tend to the injured). All I can say is that in those sort of circumstances people pull together - no one was left stranded with no way of getting home - mobile phones were shared so we could speak to loved ones (some networks were blocked but others worked ok), food was shared, hugs were given to those who were shaky and we 'teamed up' when we left with our most senior manager keeping a list of where everyone was intending to stay the night, how they intended to get there and who was accompanying them.

You don't need your bag, just trust in the vast majority of people who will look after their neighbour.

Blu · 26/10/2006 16:33

Nothing differently.

We were evacuated on the day of the failed bombings on 21/7, and having read Anguas post, I have thought it would be a good idea to keep my front door keys with me. In any chaos it would take DP a lot longer to get home than me, and having walked miles to get DS, I wouldn't like to be locked out!

But people certainly pulled together as regards money, phones, lifts, and any help that could possibly be shared or offered.

I carry water if I am on the tube anyway, as it is so airless and delays so common. Although my big worry about being stuck in a tube train for hours is needing to go to the toilet.

Molesworth · 26/10/2006 16:38

I avoid the deep tube lines unless I have to use them. I don't tend to think about it when I'm on the tube, but I do when I'm on the top deck of a bus for some reason.

Original poster
AnguaVonUberwald · 26/10/2006 16:41

Bluebear. I completly belive that for anyone caught up in something like that or in fact anywhere near it all any of us can do is rely on people around us and help as best we can.

WRT the bag etc, I am thinking more about being affected by it - as in have to leave building, no way to get home, but not being directly involved.

incidentally, someone I know "worked" at the scene of one of the blasts, and I see it still affecting him day to day, while feeling powerless to do much to help. I hope you and your collegues are coping with the aftermath and getting any support you need.

Blu - I know exactly what you mean about needing the loo. I always go before I set off for the tube, no matter how recently I have been.

OP posts:
greenday · 26/10/2006 16:43

I pray more. I pray for my dh's safety when he takes the tube to work. And again, I pray when he decides to cycle instead.
Afterall, it would be ironic if he got knocked down the road to avoid getting blown off the tube.
Apart from that, nothing more. I want to make sure they died in vain.

greenday · 26/10/2006 16:44

Sorry ... those bl**dy bombers, I mean. Not anyone else.

alligator · 26/10/2006 16:49

I ahve dont nothing different. Mind you I bike everywhere anyway and quite often leave for work with no keys or money cos I'm crap in the mornings .

motherinferior · 26/10/2006 16:50

Nothing. It's never occurred to me. Nor did it occur to me during other bombing scares, even after I arrived at London Bridge just after a platform had been blown up.

ScottishMummy · 01/01/2007 19:18

well, since 7/7 i have not altered anything i have done or any routines. its more the reaction of non londoners i notice to it all, the usual conversations of

" Oh if i lived in that london i would be worried..."
"Oh london is FULL of Funny people - they are awfy strange" (Note i am thinking and Scotland isn't HaHa)

so its more the reaction of the scottish relatives et al but they were never that keen on London anyway so it kind of vindicates their opinion. That largely regard london as a crime ridden, £10 for a coffee , million pounds for a bedsit, Sodom and Gomorrah. Why would any one work/live there hell hole

but i love being in london for number of reasons

Great people
great architecture and sites
i have had quicker promotion and wide ranging clinical/managerial experience
its pacey

SM

scootermum · 02/01/2007 13:32

I lived in London on 7/7 and was evacuated from Kings Cross.We've since moved out, (becuase we wanted to live in the country not because of the bombs), but I still work here and have to commute around a fair bit.
I dont like the non Londoners kind of Mawkish atitude to it either-all that 'I wouldnt get on the tube' etc..You just have to really.
I feel nervous on the tube and I think about exit routes on buses and things but not constantly.. Strangely though I would feel frighted of taking dd, who is one, on the tube.Which I know is inconsistent and irrational but there you are..

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