I was at work. Some of us crowded into the staff room, watching the event on the TV there, until a manage came in and rather waspishly pointed out that nobody was answering our phones. It seems that some people were still more worried about their Housing courses and membership fees than the brutal murders of hundreds of people.

There was shock, there was horror, there was sympathy. There was little if any fear. Terrorist attacks had been part of all our lives for decades. Older staff, who recalled the Blitz, simply shrugged and said "Now they'll know what it's like!". Someone said "Maybe now they'll finally stop sending money to the IRA!"

We went back to our desks. Shocked, saddened and desperately worried that an angry and reckless America would drag us into a long and pointless war of revenge.