Whatever "it" means for each of us.Ken Livingstone's defiant, quietly heartfelt speech on the way back from the capital's amazing Olympic success has struck a massive chord here Being a Londoner is a choice. And I suspect that these very London traits will carry on as the aftershocks reverberate.Where the populace of Madrid responded to their unspeakable terrorist atrocity by demonstrating on the streets in their millions, we do not have such a collective identity. We won't be making placards, building shrines or singing "You'll never walk alone" There won't be an underground Ground Zero. On the long walk back from work people still didn't make unnecessary eye contact or talk to each other. The supposed coldness of the capital translated into an icy resolve, free from overly emotional traumas or collective hysteria. Our individualism meant that despite numerous moving stories of Londoners helping others, the overriding response was simply to get out of harm's way and get home however we could with as little fuss as possible.
We've got a well-honed sense of proportion: we're used to big stuff. If our parents and grandparents could cope with bombs and much more every day for nine months of Blitzkrieg, then it's almost our duty not to flinch, a feeling that you absorb even if your forebears came from far away. Where New York was paralysed for months after the twin towers attack, we were all so much more prepared. This is a hard-nosed, battle-scarred city, so it's hard to scare. A few hours after the explosions, it was almost as if they hadn't happened.Perhaps because we have grown so used to this, over years of IRA bombs, Angry Brigade bombs, David Copeland bombs and a constant threat from every lunatic with a grudge, we know that despite the magnitude of this attack, most of us will remain unscathed and life will go on.
This is also a business city predicated on making money, so it's hard to shut down. Making a few bob is our one shared religion, and the faithful were back at the altar in no time.Many of the traits which other people see as London's faults work for us in this sort of crisis. The emergency services and security forces went about their jobs with an admirable efficiency, and the populace, although shocked, displayed a calm which was almost otherworldly. A few streets away from the explosions it was business as usual.
