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Passengers thought mass train attack 'was a joke' (www.bbc.com)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
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[–] 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I can't explain this phenomenon, maybe someone else can, but I think we have expectations of how it "should" be or how we "should" feel when something terrifying happens.

In my experience which mirrors what some of the people describe in the article is that you feel quite normal. Everything is normal when a guy walks through a train brandishing a knife.

I think we expect to hear screaming and running, the cues for panic, but it often doesn't start like that.

I assume most of what I'm describing comes down to the bystander effect - a very real and powerful effect

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  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago

    Green described how a woman had "thrown him" to safety into a toilet, who subsequently joked: "I don't usually get in with men who I just met in the toilet".

    Even in crisis we still make jokes, "keep calm and carry on" became a meme for a reason

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    I was held at gunpoint when I was 19 and worked in a post office. It doesn't really sink in until after. In the moment, it does appear pretty calm. You don't really expect someone to start waving a gun in your face. So I just got up and did what they said. If you were on the other side of the shop, it would only be the alarms blaring that would tip you off.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Whoa, that is incredible. So you felt calm as it all unfolded? Did it feel surreal?

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  • [–] 1 point 18 hours ago*

    Yeah, I can't process things in the moment at the best of times 😅 I don't know about calm.

    The only shouting came from the assailants, as far as I remember. I don't remember anyone shouting or running about in panic. The other staff were just cowering behind the counter after setting off the alarm, I don't remember what the customers were doing.

    You don't really expect someone to grab you and hold a gun to your head. I was just on autopilot, I suppose. I didn't get upset until after. But it gave me the perfect excuse to quit that job and I got enough pity points to get offered a paid position at the place I was volunteering at haha.

    But tbh it was one of the less traumatising things I've been through 😅

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    • [–] 2 points 1 day ago

    complete nutter with a knife

    peterborian

    Checks out 👍

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