It's a quiet thing, on this island, when someone is taken away by the police. Not that there isn't an abundance of noise and confusion accompanying the arrest itself, but it's the conversation down at the local that seems, in comparison with the hysteria is closely followed by completre indifference which accompanies such everyday occurrances in the States, subdued. Knowing. Finger to the side of the nose and a quiet wink.
Y'see for most of the people on this island, it's a rarety to see folks being hauled away by the police, which by the way is pronounced PO-lis. Something almost a source of amusement, because frankly most of the time it's one of the lads going over the top on a Friday night and playing silly bugger. However, there have been a series of arrests around the country which have a common link, for some at any rate.
The threat of terrorist attack is something these people have been attuned to since Churchill's 'secret army', and while the arrests were made in major centers, London, Manchester, Leeds, they were all down south. So while the threat of an Islamic kamikaze doesn't really pose much of a worry to the farmers who live around this village, it is something they're talking about in the local.
Interestingly enough though, it's not Arabs, or Middle Eastern folks who are the topic of conversation, not as a race. If one cast a loud racial slur in the pub, most would edge away from you, and you'd certainly have blotted your copybook. It's fine to dislike folk here, but not if it really has something to do with their pigmentation, or their ethnic origin. Not to say prejudice doesn't exist in Scotland, for it does, but not to the extent, nor the depth, of that felt in more radical countries.
No, what they're talking about is the necessity to once again head down into Africa, and make sure we've still got a foothold there. What they're talking about is the sad and futile acts of terrorism people are willing to commit, indeed have made for quite a while over here.
It's a mentality the common motk has maintained here, because this has been an empire, and has before, many times before sent armies off to ensure national security and the continuance of trade. It's not a shameful act here, but rather, a familiar one. And there have been terrorist bombs going off since Guy Fawkes.
So God Bless The Queen..keep it dry..and all of this with your finger held quietly by the side of your nose..