so, i went here on Saturday http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/24/shoreham-air-crash-up-to-20-people-may-have-died-police-say

as you can imagine, i've had calmer saturdays

i suspect there aren't a huge number of us who go through life without seeing something tragic or catastrophic like that, whether it's someone jumping off the Clifton suspension bridge, or a cyclist getting squished by a 'kipper in a 4x4, or a flaming fireball and pillows of black smoke along the Shoreham bypass. doesn't really help us as to just how to synthesise all this information, how to react etc

what kind of struck me was that i no one attending really had any idea how to react. it wasn't that folk started running round like headless chickens, everyone just sort of gawped, looked shocked. people still went to the bar and bought beer, or went and bought foods. bereft of having any clue just what you're supposed to do in this situation, i guess.

also noted that there are a few people, notably a parent of someone who died and an MP or two, saying air-acrobatics demonstrations should only take place over the sea. we can talk about that if you like

have any of you ever seen sort of tragic events like this, involving grevious injury, where you were just a bystander (or heck, even involved). let's have a cheerful monday talking about all this