An American in London
My countrymen seemed more alarmed by the 7/7 attacks than the natives.
BY REBECCA GOLDSMITH
Saturday, July 16, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
LONDON--By late morning last Thursday, a sense of relative calm pervaded my London flat. My husband, delayed by the Tube shutdown, worked in his home office. Our toddler, blissfully oblivious, giggled through lunch in the kitchen. Soon he would begin his long afternoon nap. I was eager to use the time to monitor the emerging news of the terrorist attacks and send emails reassuring our families of our safety.
But before lunch was cleared, American waves of anxiety started lapping our doorstep. While contact with the U.S. normally starts no earlier than mid-afternoon, the stream of worried calls and emails that day began at 11 a.m.--around dawn back home in New Jersey. Similarly breathless and panicked queries swamped other American expatriates in the following days.
In comparing notes with friends and acquaintances on both sides of the pond, you almost got the impression that Americans were more traumatized by what happened in London last week than the British. The images of stunned passengers, their nostrils and lips dusted with soot, brought Sept. 11 flashbacks in a jiffy. The rainbow coalition of London's victims resembled the cross-section of people who died at the World Trade Center.
The American captivation with London came through clearly in media consumption. The Guardian reported, for example, that 40% of the 1.3 million unique visitors to its Web site Thursday originated in the U.S., far more than from any other country, including the U.K. And while CNN played up terror angles, the BBC quickly diversified to news of the G-8 summit and Hurricane Dennis. Watching the story unfold live across the Atlantic, many Americans immediately thought of fortifying the homeland.
Other recent al Qaeda-related attacks around the world, even the train bombings in Madrid last year that had a higher death toll and far more serious political consequences, inspired a fraction of the interest that London did. There's a simple reason for that. Americans like victims they can identify with, and no nationality fits the bill better than the British, with their shared language, heritage and political aims. London enjoys a reputation among Americans as one of the world's few "civilized" cities where they feel comfortable and fit in. Prime Minister Tony Blair basks in the unique position of approval by both the American left and right, even though his popularity has suffered in his own country. The London Underground and double-decker buses are cherished emblems of England's lovable idiosyncrasies. Even the Tube stop names in the news last week rang a bell for many people back in the U.S.
But it is the fear of another 9/11, an ever-present dread in America, that probably best explains the preoccupation with 7/7. New Yorkers, a classically self-centered bunch, internalized London's pain and reimagined it as their own. New Yorkers love to strategize to get ahead in life, whether it's a way to get the kid into the choicest kindergarten or the first spot in line for Shakespeare in Central Park. Thoughts of terrorism turn all their attempts at planning into a tailspin. Their need to overanalyze helps explain why the New York-centric national media played up the London news almost more than the U.K. media. This lingering sadness and anxiety is why remote acquaintances and friends whom I've lost touch with were among the legions who inquired after my welfare in the past week.
If London gave Americans reason to relive their most recent trauma, Brits took the bombings in stride--almost, even, with relief. Many remember Irish Republican Army bombs packed with nails that detonated in crowded pubs. Many anticipated, and still fear, an attack involving chemicals or biological agents that could permanently transfigure the city, as Sept. 11 did New York. Londoners had mentally prepared for something much darker than last Thursday, and many were just glad it wasn't worse.
The British deal with terrorism like they tend to their year-round gardens. Taming the wildlife requires daily maintenance and vigilance. As their history suggests, they're committed to persevering for the long haul. Thursday's events were just a single chapter in a much longer story. After the blasts, our British neighbors simply located loved ones, set aside qualms and moved on.
The local reaction, compared with New York and the rest of the U.S. less than four years ago, was striking for its absences. Where were the candlelight vigils? Where were the people sobbing in the streets? Where was the hand-wringing? Brits consider Americans-style displays of emotion tacky. Only sport teams inspire the kind of patriotism on display in the U.S. after Sept. 11, when stores ran out of American flags, and extra shifts were needed to meet extraordinary demand. In London, a week after these bombings, the Union Jack rarely appears on homes or businesses.
Perched between the two worlds are the thousands of American lawyers, bankers and business people who have plum assignments here. Many of them wealthy and cosmopolitan, and with strong ties to New York, these families send their children to the pricey American School, surrounded by foreboding guards and impenetrable gates. While security is a prime concern, London's multicultural society also provides a unique window into the Arab and Muslim worlds, complete with street markets populated by women in burqas and center city calls to prayer. No one I found talked of moving away after last Thursday's attacks. After all, one friend pointed out, where would they go to be safer, New York?
The expats adore their adopted city. To fit in, they tone down their accents and tailor their wardrobes. They learn to get what they want by swapping New York-style pushiness for polite deference and restraint. They even discover new patience for long lines, which on a recent trip to New Jersey, I accidentally referred to as a "queue," to the befuddlement of the others waiting for their driver's licenses.
Though assimilation has a certain glamorous appeal, after last Thursday, I relinquished any hope of becoming a cultural chameleon. I would need a stiff-upper-lip transplant to truly fit in. While my neighbors treated the day like a particularly bad storm or an undesirable sporting event outcome, I remain apprehensive. True to my roots, I feel the need to dwell and discuss the details of Thursday. Part of me hopes--against all logic, I know--that by understanding exactly what took place, down to the details, I can avoid the next attack. I realize that is silly. Terrorists strike at random by design. But I can't help myself. I am American, and a New Yorker at heart.
Ms. Goldsmith, a former European correspondent for the Star-Ledger of New Jersey, is a writer in London.
opinionjournal.com |
