Of the British Reaction to London Bombings
Sometimes I am recalled to the real world by the most unlikely chain of events.
In the past two days I have thought about typing a word or two on the Brits and on why I love them, but then I was distracted by various activities, most of which rather mundane.
I was now indulging in one of my fixations, that is women. In fact, I was considering how flawless and close to perfection Jessica Alba's skin is. Her body would be very close to my ideals if only she wasn't so petite. Had she somewhat broader shoulders, perhaps slightly larger bones... but the skin is perfect, or very close to perfection. And her muscles very elastic and flexible. Lovely, but something is missing... Anyway, seeing that she is not perfect enough, I jumped away from her pictures and moved on to Viv's blog, one of my favorite pasttimes after all. That reminded me of London, and I can't just let time go by without praising the Brits.
It has been said by Winston Churchill that the days when the powercrazed Nazis bombed London were the most glorious days for England.
Now I know what he meant.
How do people react to fear?
Let's go back in time.
When Saudi Arabians (SAUDI ARABIANS: heard this name? S-A-U-D-I A-R-A-B-I-A-N-S) attacked New York City (probably for fun) they toppled the Twin Towers. Americans reacted by screaming and shouting and rallying in cathedrals singing "Glory Glory Hallelujah" and showing off their muscles. Then they caught the occasion to invade Afghanistan and build an oilduct through that nation. Later they invaded Iraq, which had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda, had no weapons of mass destruction, and was pretty much minding its own business posing zero threat (ZERO THREAT: heart this concept? Z-E-R-O T-H-R-E-A-T) to the USA.
Fear, screams, panic and some rich bastards that caught the occasion to invade innocents leaving the responsible terrorists in peace. Nobody invaded, attacked or reprimanded Saudi Arabia. Still, almost all the terrorists on the planes that toppled the Twin Towers were Saudi Arabians. Osama Bin Laden is Saudi Arabian. Saudi Arabia has declared war against the Usa. Hello? Republican dickheads? Anybody home? It's SAUDI ARABIA, your source of oil dollars, that is attacking USA, not Iraq and not Afghanistan. No way trying to talk to the deaf. Americans are convinced it's been Saddam Hussein.
Maybe tomorrow Bush will tell them it's been China. Or North Korea. Or Iran.
It's been Saudi Arabia, anyway.
Pathetic. I am sorry for the American people. No one deserves the evil multinational companies that plague America.
Now terrorists (Saudi Arabians?) attacked London.
The next day, life was going on as usual, almost as if nothing had happened. No scenes of panic, no rallying in cathedrals singing "God Save the Queen"; I have seen people with stitches talking quietly at the news as if they had no bruises.
The Brits cannot be scared off. They do not lose control. The Brits are not afraid of the bombs that exploded in London. They are not panicking.
This is precisely what I esteem and admire in a people. One of the things I find most annoying in Southern Italians is the way they think they have to stress, uselessly exaggerating their emotions. Crying and shouting for any stupid reason.
In front of pain and disaster, the Brits haven't been shaken at all. They are back to their lives, keeping their emotions well hidden within their heart, which is where they are supposed to stay. The terrorists have lost their battle in England because they can't bring terror in London. The Brits don't react to fear. They have a dignity that most other peoples (Italians for example) do not have.
After this terrorist attack I understood how it must have been in London when the Nazis exploded V2s on the city.
Simply, the Brits were unshaken. They kept living, reacting with their undestructible dignity against brutality.
Incidentally, a people that knows no fear will not fall prey of dictatorship. In fact, Britain is the only country in Europe that never knew extremist dictatorships. There has never been a British Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Pétain, Stalin.
I am in awe of the British people and their reaction to bombings. The Brits don't go on the street shouting and screaming and *pretending* to be suffering. They suffer in silence, with British dignity and honor.
Thank you, British people, for this lesson of dignity. I mourn your dead in silence and honor the Union Jack, and wish you to stay British forever.
We all should learn from them.
