28 July, 2005

Discomfort of strangers

» BBC Magazine | The discomfort of strangers
26 July 2005
By Sean Coughlan

Interesting article from BBC Magazine. It's about recent trends of Tube travellers, created by the bomb attacks on London.

Marcus, who says his family are Greek-Cypriot, has devised a strategy to avoid "odd looks" on the Tube (which he attributes to his Mediterranean appearance).

To make himself seem non-threatening, he now wears a Make Poverty History wristband and makes a point of reading the Economist.

Being on the receiving end of such a hostile atmosphere has persuaded Leila, a white convert to Islam, to stop travelling by Tube altogether.

"I sensed people's fear of me because of my Muslim dress. Sometimes people even preferred to stand rather than sit by me, leaving an empty seat next to me."

Mr Fitzgibbon [psychologist from the north London-based consultancy, Fitzgibbon Associates] says fear is a natural response to a threat - but the prolonged media coverage, and the way that people continue to talk about the bombings, can generate a response that is greater than the actual threat that exists.