What's the world coming to?

Once you reach a certain age you're allowed to say this on a regular basis. I don't think I've ever said it yet but, really, what is the world coming to when a child is shot dead outside an ice-rink and other children are arrested?

The details seem to be a bit sketchy and there are lots of questions to ask about what was going on but the simple story of children apparently shooting children is appalling. Where do you get a gun from and why carry it round (and loaded) on a Saturday night? I would have no idea where to even start looking. Leafy Streatham hasn't been suburbia for a long time but neither is it inner city. Violence can happen anywhere.

I came across more violence today with the letter bomb sent to Capita on Victoria Street. I was crossing Victoria Street this morning on my way to a meeting when a chunk of the road was blocked by police directing people to use other roads and paths. I didn't really think twice about it since roads are sometimes closed around my work area for things like royal visits, parliamentary affairs and such like. It was only when I got back to my building and saw the email from our security people that I realised what had happened.

It must have been awful for the woman involved but I couldn't help wondering about the communications skills of our security people. The email said to contact them if anything suspicious was delivered to our offices but didn't tell us how to contact security people trained to deal with a potential bomb - no phone number and no monitored email address. It also didn't reassure me about the effectiveness of security measures in our postroom. Good job I'd already opened my post that morning or I would've worried - three invoices, just like getting nothing but bills at home...

I worked in the area when the garden of No. 10 was bombed in 1991 and the windows of my office all shuddered with the sudden change of air pressure (they weren't shatter-proof back then). I worked in St James's Square during the Libyan Embassy siege in 1984. It just goes on, doesn't it?

Hope you weren't looking for any deep insights in this entry. I have none.