July 7, 2005 - New York, Bali, Madrid, and now, London.The terrorist attacks in London struck a particular nerve. My guess is because for some reason, I feel particularly close to the city - even more so than NYC. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being I was in London only last year and I travelled extensively on the Tube. In fact, I've passed through all 3 of the tube stations that were bombed. Paddington, the station where I travelled to and from every day for over a week, is only one station away from Edgware Road. So when I heard they bombed the Circle Line, I couldn't help but feel numb.
Secondly, the fact that they targeted the public transit system made the attacks seem more personal. Mainly because like millions (if not billions) of people around the world, I use public transit everyday. To target innocent transit riders, many of them regular people who are just trying to make a living by getting to and from work, is very crowardly. Not to mention, it brings the attacks closer to home - what if it had happened here ? what would I do if a bomb goes off one day at College station ? would I be able to remain calm and evacuate the train ?
My frineds would think I'm being paranoid - sure they would never attack Toronto - they probably don't even know where Toronto is. But then again, why do I always feel like Canada is a sitting duck, waiting for something to happen ? If you look at our transit system, it's such an easy target for terrorists, psychos, and anyone else who wants to cause mayhem. Are we, the transit riders, asking too much to have officers patrol our trains ? or better yet, have TTC employees who actually care about the well-being of their passengers ?
Anyway kudos to London for getting back onto its feet so quickly. That city has guts and courage. Too bad I don't know if I can say the same if something similar does indeed happen in Toronto...
