When you hear that sound, don’t be so alarmed
[Detroit, MI]
Travel sure is different these days. The aiport closures following 9/11/01 marooned several of my then-coworkers in Texas (poor souls). Failing to find a flight for several days, they ended up renting a car and driving all the way back to Seattle. Later one of those coworkers was on a flight back from Europe when a bomb scare forced the plane to make an emergency landing at an abandoned airfield in Greenland where he spent several days as security gave everything a thorough search.
I’m happy to say that I dont see this coworker anywhere nearby. Hopefully, he’s sipping a beer somewhere back in Seattle.
I remember hearing about the bombs that hit London as I finished packing for my trip to europe this morning. My sleep deprived brain didn’t register it. I just walked by a huge screen blasting CNN here at Detroit airport and the message finally got through - London’s been hit.
I stood watching the screen for a few minutes, but frustrated by the linear nature of TV news, I beelined for this internet cafe to cee what the BBC had to say. It was eerie seeing all those images of places I had been on my last trip to Europe. Still, it was only troublesome in a faraway sort of way. Again, I don’t know anyone there and I’ve only been there once.
What was cool is seeing the blogging community not only covering it, but providing sites for helping people find loved ones. They rock! [boingboing post covering it].
To friends / family who know I’m on the road: I’m happily not going through London on this trip, so it doesn’t effect me, though it’ll make my return oh so enjoyable. My parents, however, are going through London - in fact they’re probably there now - luckily, they’re taking a charter bus between airports, so they should be fine.
