Life marches on in London

'Soft target': Ordinary folks
Two weeks ago the targets in London were still as “soft” as you can get. Ordinary folk going about their business. No armor plating or armed guards here.

But this time the bombers didn’t run away. They blew themselves up along with their victims.

Suicide bombers — the terrorists’ grisly answer to the precision-guided missile — have come to wreak their perverted vengeance on the country they call home.

In these awful days after the attacks, we have comforted ourselves with the knowledge that we have been through worse.

Hitler threw everything he had at us — and, according to popular legend, we came out singing. The IRA bombers turned to attacking the mainland when things got too tough for them closer to home — and we saw them off too.

It won’t be easy, but we will go on
So we will get through this. It won’t be easy. For those who lost loved ones, life has surely lost some of its worth. For the rest of us, we know it’s not over yet.

Those who espouse the extreme fanaticism of the London suicide bombers will no doubt find encouragement in their deaths. Martyrdom is the name of their game. They are welcome to it.

Two weeks later, I take the train through the burbs and walk to my office.

On the train people go about their business as usual. Perhaps one or two look more carefully at the luggage some are carrying.

Mostly they mind their own business, just as those poor folk did before the bombs went off.

I walk to the bureau and see a handful of people on the sidewalks, talking on their phones.

I need to go buy some shaving cream.

Addendum: 5:20 p.m. London time

So bombers have struck again — or attempted to.

As I write this, just four hours after the attacks, the Underground trains are running again.

A colleague just rode one. He says it was packed. People were standing there acting pretty much as normal  — ignoring each other.

As I was saying, before the terrorists interrupted me, we'll get through this, and any more that come our way. Prime Minister Blair is urging us all to stay calm. 10-4 Tony. We already are.

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