Sad day in the UK

Today started as any other normal day. All these horrific days seem to begin that way. Fortunately I am physically ok myself, just a bit shaken, after today's attacks in London.

It was a grey, typical day as I rode my bike to work for the fourth day of my summer job at Transversal here in Cambridge. After having lived in New York and experiencing 9/11, I knew London would be a potential target (despite my previous post about security for the Queen's visit, I promise this is not a national security blog). Being 45 minutes away in Cambridge makes me feel safer, but I go to London often enough and I have enough friends who live there or go there regularly to make it something that crosses my mind occasionally. Sadly, today the fear of those thoughts became reality.

I overheard some people in the office discussing power surges affecting the tube, so I figured I'd check Google News myself, only to find the news getting worse and worse. Something about a bus too, and another train, maybe three buses. I felt the anxiety build up and return inside of me as I recalled how on 9/11 I heard one plane, saw number two, then was told of two more, then a policeman called out "there might be more!" I knew my parents and family would be worried, so I wanted to call them immediately, but it was only 4am central time in the US, so I opted to start sending emails to let everyone know I was ok.

Classmates did likewise, as we are sort of each other's families away from home, to make sure everybody was ok. While it would be ideal to be with family on a day like today, it is certainly comforting to have such great people around me here. It seems that nobody I know was directly affected, so I count my blessings, but my prayers go out to all of those affected.