The day before the London riots began, the song "Panic" by The Smiths came to mind. I now sing or hum it to myself (including today while walking home from work)--an attempt to distract myself from the buzz of anxiety.
Last night, in a section of Birmingham, three Pakistani men trying to protect their community from the relentless rioters were murdered by a black man who drove into them with a car. Tonight, there's talk of members of the two ethnic groups doing battle on the battered streets of Brum. Most shops and restaurants in the city have closed--some boarding up their windows in anticipation of further glass breakage and looting.
It's now fifteen minutes past 7pm and the city is often loud with the sound of circling helicopters, frequent sirens and passing vehicles. More vehicles than usual. There are the loud cars of the rioters or rioter-sympathizers who will later scream their engines through the city streets, but mostly they are cars, taxis and buses carrying home the people who work or did their shopping early.
With most every business closing in the late afternoon, the looting, and fewer citizens going out to eat even at lunch, the city's shops and restaurants are losing large amounts of money every day the riots continue, which means that some may end up closing and people may lose their jobs--a fact that will worsen the local economy in a time when it's already worrisome for so many in the world.
