Ruminations

Today, I was travelling through Liverpool to return to my parent’s house for a catch up before they go on holiday to St. Ives, and as it was a nice day, I wandered around for a short time and found my way to the vigil in Williamson Square for the attack on Manchester, which happened on Monday night.

As you probably know by now, over 20 people have died and just under 60 people were injured when someone set off a nail bomb, after an Ariana Grande concert. The bomb was set off in the main foyer going to Manchester Victoria Station, where a lot of the concert goers were heading for, considering that the majority of people were from other places. Having been through that way before, and having been to the MEN Arena, I can only imagine the chaos and confusion that occurred. That’s all any of us can do who were not there. The chaos led to a lot of people getting split up, and there are still young children and teenagers missing. Yes, many of those who were there were young girls.

This post is not going to focus on terrorism, this post is not going to focus on the people involved, or what the police are doing to catch them. In fact, this paragraph is the last time I am going to mention them. Focussing on the perpetrators is what they want. They want coverage, they want attention. I am not going to give them further attention. I am going to give attention to the outpouring of help that as occurred in the immediate aftermath of what happened.

There were so many people who were affected by what happened, as someone from the same region as Manchester, there were people I know that were there, some from my university, some from my university town, and some from Merseyside. The outpouring of help that has been offered to the affected public is one of the best things. Taxi companies gave free rides to people, and random people from the area offering to taxi others, offer them a bed for the night, give them a phone to reassure family. Even on social media, I have seen people share the images of lost family members, details of people who are lost. The one story the newspapers are reporting about is the homeless man who had to take nails out of a young girl and cradled an older woman who was dying. Terrorism is one of the worst things humans can do, but it backfired. It brought out the best in people.

It brought out the best in people, especially across this region. As I mentioned, the vigil in Williamson Square in Liverpool was one example. I stood there for a long time, and a lot of people have crowded around, I’d say there was at least a hundred, or at the very least a few dozen. When I left, I couldn’t leave without buying a bouquet of flowers and placing them on the vigil, giving the change I had to a homeless man who was in that area. There are cynics, of course, who doubt these actions, who doubt the vigils, and they doubt the hashtags and the special facebook images. 4 Years ago, I would have agreed with you, I would have harshly criticised something if I viewed it as vapid. But the thing is, I am from this region. Manchester isn’t my nearest and dearest city, but it is so close to me, if not emotionally then geographically, sometimes we need to see that unity. Sometimes that unity is good for all of us, it is a morale booster.

There are cynics, of course, who doubt these actions, who doubt the vigils, and they doubt the hashtags and the special facebook images. 4 Years ago, I would have agreed with you, I would have harshly criticised something if I viewed it as vapid. But the thing is, I am from this region. Manchester isn’t my nearest and dearest city, but it is so close to me, if not emotionally then geographically, sometimes we need to see that unity. Sometimes that unity is good for all of us, it is a morale booster. Je Suis Charlie was a morale booster, Pray for Paris was a morale booster, it is a powerful symbol of defiance. That vigil in Liverpool was one which saw two cities who are normally rivals just forget about it for a bit and show some compassion.

These attacks, which occurred this Monday, have shaken us all up. At the end of the day though, is not the power of courage in hard times the defining quality of humanity. When I first read about the attack on Monday night went I was unable to sleep, I wrote the following:

”I’m up late, as I am finding it hard to sleep, and I’ve been reading about the situation in Manchester tonight. About 19 are dead, about 50 are injured. I’m glad to know that my friends and university peers from Manchester who were there are safe. It is awful when these people are killed. They did nothing wrong, and it reminds me of what happened in London. It reminds me of something Travis said on TV. If this is a terrorist attack, then it shows how desperate these people are getting it they kill blameless civilians. It is a sad thing, but you must hope that this desperation to cause fear is a sign that we’re winning against these awful people”

Those are the words I am trying to remember as I go on with life. Any plans to cause fear and terror have failed in the big picture. What was an attack which intended to do the worst thing to your own people brought the absolute best out in your people; Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Christians, Atheists, all went out of their way in the immediate aftermath of what happened to help others. I will remember the dead of Manchester solemnly, but when I tell my children about this when I remember this in years to come, I will remember one thing. I will remember the kindness, and I will remember the humanity of others. That to me is the defining thing I will remember about what happened in Manchester.