The day after the day before

[caddyman]

After the events of yesterday, there is a sort of eerie calm over London today. The place is very quiet. I noticed it first as I was walking down to the Tube station at Whetstone: very little traffic – less even, than on a Sunday. The journey in was quiet and a little slow – the train halted at Finchley Central for a few minutes as people are being bussed in from stations acting as temporary terminuses on the Piccadilly Line, either side of King’s Cross (The mainline station is open, but the underground station, a crime scene, remains resolutely shut while the police do their thing). Even then, when we went underground at Highgate, there was plenty of room; no-one had to stand.

At Euston, the change to the Victoria Line was equally easy and quiet. No queuing, a seat to sit on.

Despite the fact that the congestion charge has been suspended in central London, traffic is lower than normal. It is very quiet apart from the occasional police siren.

It reminds me of the day after the hurricane in 1987.

So much then, for the bulldog spirit, or the spirit of the blitz, that the media were banging on about yesterday. People have stayed at home, taken a long weekend. Hardly business as usual.

The terrorists may not have won, and they won’t, but the London of which I was so proud yesterday has stayed at home today. They may not have won, but it looks as though the game has gone to extra time, and we won on penalties.

Additional

I am not suggesting as some think, that London is a city in fear. I am suggesting that all things being equal, the much vaunted "defiant spirit" of the inhabitants is manifesting as a day off in front of the telly instead of getting on with business as usual.

Comments

[mr-h-r-hughes.livejournal.com]

To be fair people have been clearly told not to travel (work from home if possible) unless it's really necessary, it was all over the news today and lots of compaies have just decide to close for friday and start fresh next week. I think this is as much to give the police/emergency services/trains room to breathe while they sort themsleves out.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Maybe so, but it still feels wrong to me.

If anything, the city should be more alive and defiantly vibrant.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a small sample but both B:Movie and Planet Angel are going ahead tonight. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we're packed out, though my guess is that we'll be comfortably full.

I'm at home, but that's more because I'd already booked today off to take my parents to the airport (and they're making their own way there because there was no way they could have got into London as planned yesterday) and I see no reason to not enjoy the time at home.

Must try and do something more fruitful than just checking LJ and the BBC though.

[pauln.livejournal.com]

Checking LJ and the BBC is mostly what I am doing in work.

Expert procrastinator? Me?

Trying to do something more fruitful...

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Me too. Despite predictions, I can't get into 34 Tavistock Square because it's still cordoned off, and bosses have mailed everyone to tell them not to bother.

As for actual work-type work, I'm stuck until the consultant answers my technical question. I have chased up the Council about the fence, though. Perhaps I could get round to selling those taps on eBay.

Re: Trying to do something more fruitful...

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

My point is, the whole city is not concentrated into the individual crime scenes. If it is impossible to get into work because the police have it all cordoned off and are doing SOCO stuff, that's one thing.

To say it's Friday, I could go in, but I have a great excuse, is quite another.

[itsjustaname.livejournal.com]

Defiant vibrancy was yesterday.

Today is getting on with life and normal life in London is to stay home if you can when the trains and tubes are disrupted. Many people I know took work home last night so they could work from home today.

Give the city a break, she's taking a deep breath followed by a long sigh of relief today.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Got to agree with the above; I don't think the quiet of the capital can be taken as a sign of a city in fear. It's not as though they've all cried off sick; they were told not to travel. Basically in the secret yet universal language of blagging off, it seems peeps have been told 'nothing's going to get done, it'll take you ages to get in, might as well stay at home and relax!'

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I never said it was a city in fear.

But the 'let's take a long weekend because we have an unbeatable excuse' is overwhelming any apparent defiance the city might have.

[westernind.livejournal.com]

That counts as normal behaviour for Londoners.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

I never said it was a city in fear.

No indeed, my apologies for misinterpretion...when you mentioned the absence of the bulldog/blitz spirit, I thought you meant people were staying at home through fear, rather than a very human readiness to jump at a paid holiday after a time of stress!

I am sure the defiant spark is there if there is anything to defy. If not, well, why not enjoy sun/tv/ a day of dossing? Business as usual = work is still a right bore, and best avoided!

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going out to get drunk on cocktails this evening, so nher.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

But not during the day...

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

I'm at work at the moment, squire.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

That's my point, though. You've gone to work instead of taking the opportunity to skive.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

If I'd had the oppurtunity to skive, i would have done. That has nothing to do with terrorist attacks, that has to do with my work/life balance. My preference for a vibrant, alive social life over slogging it out at work all day.

Getting out of stuff you don't want to do if you can get away with it - business as usual.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Getting out of stuff you don't want to do if you can get away with it - business as usual.

True, but in the circumstances, my own bloody mindedness would have me come in just as a little show of defiance against the tossers who would make my attempts to skive look like caving in to their agression.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

So you would have allowed terrorism to change your values? Thr prospect of what a bunch of half baked nitwits thought of your actions would have dictated your actions? In direct violation of what the emergency services asked you to do?

For myself, I saw "the Blitz spirit" this morning, when people stayed at home when they could, came in if they had to, and didn't give a damn what anyone else interpreted that as.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

An interesting turn around of the argument.

But I don't think I agree; I often come into work when I'd rather be skiving. They hardly changed my behaviour. Staying at home would have been the change/easy option.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that as of this morning there was still no Piccadilly line, no Circle line, restrictions on the Hammersmith and City and a lot of the out of town trains were running Sunday service - for a lot of people, attempting to come into work would have been a rather pointless exercise in jingoism.

Is it appropriate to make an emotional gesture in trying to drag oneself into work, inconveniencing those who _have_ to be in central London, or to accept the inevitable and quietly, without fuss, make other arrangements? I think we're in danger of drifting into Americanised gestures here...

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Got a spare tiara?

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

We can rustle one up...coming?

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Yeah, go on then. maisiecat says I can wear a virtual tiara.

[littleonions.livejournal.com]

I think another aspect of the British character has been manifested; practicality. The security teams/clean up gangs etc will be very happy that they have space to work in with less people around, so by staying out of the city folks are actually doing their bit.

Wish I was having a day off...

[maleghast.livejournal.com]

...I'm not in London because we were told that unless told otherwise in the interim that we should not go in to the office today. We were reminded that this meant actually working, despite it being from home.

I do see your point in a way, but even though the disruption to the transport system has been minimised, it won't hurt the people who have ventured in, or the people that have stayed away that there are less people on the Tube and the buses today.

As for the media's take on 'bulldog spirit', you are right that it's not out there if people have stayed away out of fear or trepidation, but I don't honestly think they have. I think like me they took the view that the usual number of commuters is a problem when everything is 'working normally' and therefore when presented with the choice to work from home have taken it.

Re: Wish I was having a day off...

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I can only speak as I find.

For example, both my boss and another colleague have admnitted to feelings of trepidation on getting on a Tube train this morning. I doubt they are alone in that, but they came in anyway.

Addressing the point Emm made about coming in when advice was not to do so if you didn't have to, it has been made pretty clear to government employees that they didn't mean us.

[delvy.livejournal.com]

Yesterday, at 13.30, the CEO pulled everyone togther and told everyone that the office would close at 14.00 and that almost everyone was to work from home. At the time it seemed the most sensible thing, even if it only meant it gave people the weekend to calm down. She aslo offered to pay the expenses of anyone who needed to stop in a hotel overnight.

I get the impression that our company is far from the only one that esentially went to skeleton staff today and with good reason I feel.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

We're on a "work at home" day as well...

Though yesteday, we did have the interesting point of the security guards being told in no uncertain terms that people WOULD go home and WOULD go next door to get food, rather than go hungry at their desks.