Immer Mittwoch

londonlife:

Messages of support and hope written on the boarded up windows of Debenhams department store in Clapham Junction. These are just a small selection of thousands of messages. 

Okay, despite my slightly distasteful re-blogging of Jon Stewart’s take on the London riots the other night, I’ve really been shocked to see the news about what’s been unfolding on other side of the pond. While I lived in the middle of Westminster (and therefore would have lived away from the worst of the violence), I have been through a lot of the other places where the riots have hit many times- Croydon, Chelsea, Ealing, Notting HIll, Camden. Even worse, I have a very close friends who live in some of the areas.

What’s shocking is how many of these riots have spread from poorer areas of London into the more affluent areas. What’s more shocking is how they seem to be taking place for no apparent reason.

It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful place wracked by this kind of violence. Whatever the reasons for it, I hope that it dissipates quickly and that Londoners (and the rest of the English living in other areas hit) can go back to life without having to see stores windows boarded up and riot police on their streets.