The Editor's Diary - 2 October 2001 - Watching Waiting Wondering

CWN - News & Information for Coventry & Warwickshire

THE EDITOR'S DIARY - TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2001
Watching Waiting Wondering

For tax advice, accountancy and auditing in Coventry
and the West Midlands visit Walker Thompson

Three weeks on and the world still waits. The clock still ticks. The hens still lay.

But we all know the chickens are about to come home to roost.

We know it will come. They know it will come. It must be inevitable. And we are assured it will be fair, just and appropriate.

But will it be the start of something big?

It wasn't one bomb in one place that burnt. It wasn't one bullet in one heart that bled.

It was a mighty avalanche into a mighty sea that is sending tidal waves around the world.

How was it for you?

You may have been unfortunate enough to have lost a friend or a relative in New York, Washington or Pennsylvania.

You might have had to cancel a flight or give up a holiday.

Or you might have lost your job.

The world economy, that was shaky in places before 11 September, is now deeply sick. The stock markets are lurching up and down and down.

And on our little doorsteps in Coventry and Warwickshire the chickens are already getting close.

Marconi is teetering on the brink - its share price has collapsed and prospects look bad. The company says the terrorist attacks have rubbed salt into their deep financial wounds.

Coventry City Council know that things could go bad. A recent research newsletter highlights, amongst other issues, potential losses in the local aerospace and tourism industries.

[DOWNLOAD - MICROSOFT WORD - 36K

PLEASE NOTE : if you open one of this file using Microsoft Office 2000 you may be asked to enter a user name and password. If you click the cancel button the document will then open. To resolve this problem, obtain the Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a (SR-1/SR-1a) from www.microsoft.com]]

Many readers of CWN were personally touched by this tragedy. Here are just a few excerpts from messages I received after my previous diary:

I would just like to say that all my thoughts and love goes out to all those awaiting news on their loved ones. I am living in NY but grew up in Coventry. I saw both towers collapse yesterday and have no way of describing what I saw, how I felt or how I feel right now. I know one of the firefighters who is currently unaccounted for. This is a horrific and terrifying time for NY and must be even worse for the rest of the world sitting as we are, waiting for news. Please try to stay strong and hope for as many survivors as possible from this horrific tragedy.

E Broomhead (NYC)

I have a stepsister living in Mentor, Ohio. She emailed me today (she cannot get a phone line) and told me that the Pittsburg plane flew over within half a mile of her house. Terrifying news. I agree with your sentiments exactly, and wait for the next horrific installment, as reprisals are guaranteed.

Adrienne Small

I have been living here in the US for 16 years. I was born and raised in Coventry. My parents still live there. The nature of my business means I have to fly many times each month, mainly domestic flights. My local airport, Atlanta, is one of the two busiest in the World. I take it for granted like most other business people. As a result of the recent events, we are now faced with many changes. There will be longer check-in times, longer lines at the X-ray screening areas, random security checks, delayed flights, dog patrols etc. There is even talk of putting an armed person in plain clothes on each flight. This may be difficult with over 20,000 each day.

Personally, I was to come over to my best friends wedding in Coventry this weekend. The flight was due to leave on Wednesday. Of course it was cancelled. I am also coming to Coventry in November to see my parents and friends. What has been a routine trip in the past is now one to be feared. In all of my years of living in the country, this is the first time that every airport has been shut down, the stock market has been closed, and all sporting events cancelled. The country has come together in an unprecedented way. As evidence mounts in identifying the perpetrators, it is now just a matter of time before the resolve of the Americans will be realised. The map-makers of the World might be quite busy in the upcoming weeks.

Malcolm Teasdale

Maybe, just maybe, the bad people will be punished, the good people will shake hands and it will all be over by Christmas.

But I doubt it. This is a deep deep scar across our mind.

This was an event for everyone for all time.

Even my four-year-old daughter, Myfi, felt it. Unwittingly we subjected her, as it was shown over and over again, of that fateful montage of the second plane crashing into the second tower.

Now she asks mummy when I leave for my shiny glass office: