Take the piss, London

Of all the reasons that, as I mentioned, I love Londoners, the sharp, self-deprecating humor is near the top. Danny Ayers spotted a great example of this. An American LiveJournaller set up a Web bulletin board "London Hurts", not unlike those that sprang up soon after 9/11 with a lot of lugubrious lament and jingoistic sloganeering. It seems Londoners are having none of that, please. I nearly fell off my chair reading the Haiku, especially given the slyly over-the-top background image:

it's a right mess, mate.
oh bugger, it's time for tea.
back in the tube, then.

gypseymission gave voice to his London version of agape.

Now I'm sure that the people who set this up were very well intentioned but the truth is we really are fine, we always will be because we don't give a fuck about anything or even each other. We are obstinate, argumentative, bloody minded people, and this kind of thing makes us look like powder puffs which is really just going to wind us up.

Right. Right. Up yours, bredren.

Anyways, this is not just the occasional London Web slicker affectation. Among those I contacted to check up after the bombings was family friend Agnes Mkpeti. Her response:

Thanx for the check up, we are all fine. Yesterday was mad, luckily I don't work in central London. As transport resumed semi-service before home time I was able to get home with minimum difficulty. I just got to work and its like a ghost town, completely empty. It's Friday and most events and shows have been canceled around London. IT'S SO SAD!!!!

Party on, Agnes.

Yeah. London will be just fine.

[Uche Ogbuji]

via Copia
4 responses
Well I suppose Britain has a long history of being attacked so it would explain that they have learnt to deal with it :)



The USA are so young, I'm not sure they have the same History of being attacked from the outside.



Anyway, I prefer seeing people keeping their smile instead of becoming too paranoid! :)



- Sylvain
Ahem.  We New Yorkers didn't exactly freak out either, most of us.  Nor was Pearl Harbor cause for mass hysteria in Hawai'i.  Oregon was the only other part of the U.S. that got bombed in World War II, and it took an FBI investigation to discover the fact.  See http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/bomboregon.html for the hardly-believable details.
John,



It's good to hear that New Yorekers reacted calmly but then you should consider asking your media to be more objective when sending content outside the country. That's not what the rest of the World saw.



- Sylvain
My memory seems to match Sylvain's.  I recall problems with gawkers rushing downtown right after the first WTC impact, which caused problems and disorder when the buildings started to collapse.  I recall being amazed at the hype over Guiliani's simple statements, which seemed to have been perceived in the U.S. as Churchillian bits of oratory.



But I think the point is not to abuse New Yorkers, but rather to laud Londerners.