impossible

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

when i was in london at the weekend, i couldn't help but notice a
striking difference in the way that madrid and london have dealt with
the terrorist attacks in their cities.

if you catch the madrid metro in the morning (or at any time of day or
night), you are guaranteed to see at least two security guards at each
metro station. they all have batons, some of them have guns and the
lucky ones have dogs. you get off the train at atocha on one of the
platforms that was targeted, and a security guard will be stood by
every door - trousers tucked into boots.

you catch the underground in london and you see nobody like this; just
the underground workers (not wombles). on the escalators in london
there are posters that say 'it's up to all of us' as well as, of
course (as is the case in most of england) millions of cctv cameras.

so in madrid, you feel safe because there are men with guns and dogs
who have the responsibility of protecting you, whereas in london it's
the responsibility of the people to look out for each other.

which is better? impossible to tell, but unfortunately, it feels much
safer to travel on the madrid metro with the dogs and guns.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 12:40 PM.
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:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Thursday, March 16, 2006 10:48:00 AM

Kester, I hope you are satisfied with this serious blog. The Grandad has returned!    



:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Thursday, March 16, 2006 11:00:00 AM

I don't think this one *quite* fits into the "Grandad" category (compared to reading how Matt re-tagged the entire contents of his iPod) - as it's actually interesting and offers a nice comparison...

...also, the image of the Wombles of Wimbledon Wombling around the underground with batons keeping a Watchful eye over commuters is bloody awesome!    



:: Blogger Ian commented Friday, March 17, 2006 5:12:00 PM

oh the ipod re-tagging! now there was one you could re-tell for generations.

Good observation matt. Maybe next time you visit i'll bring a short piece of 2x4 and Yogi just to keep your mind at ease.    



:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Sunday, March 19, 2006 10:41:00 PM

Ian you can't have a "short piece of 2x4". 2x4 are its dimensions. It's like a "quick 5 minutes".

Adam    



:: Blogger Ian commented Monday, March 20, 2006 1:12:00 AM

Adam you are indeed a fool.
Normally (back me up, Tim) a 3D object has THREE dimensions.

2x4 is the cross-sectional size of the timber. the third (and missing) dimension is it's length, probably about 24" should do the trick where a suicide bomber is concerned    



:: Anonymous Anonymous commented Monday, March 20, 2006 10:27:00 AM

What do you and Tim know about dimensions? It's not like you are studying engineering and Mathematics respectively...    



:: Blogger Ian commented Thursday, March 23, 2006 12:17:00 PM

I know i'm taller than you    



:: Blogger Unknown commented Thursday, March 23, 2006 5:57:00 PM

HAHAHAHA

Just like Keanu Reeves at the end of Speed...    



:: Blogger Unknown commented Thursday, March 23, 2006 5:58:00 PM

Oh and yes, Ian is right and Adam is clearly not the brightest tool.    



:: Blogger Ian commented Friday, March 24, 2006 1:16:00 AM

good to see you've picked up gemma's 'brightest tool'. loving it.

Adam, you may be able to spell mamamkin/maneecin/mannequin, but leave the maths to the professionals (and Tim)    



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