A bomb....

...when you hear these words in your vicinty, the reaction you have is much different than when you read about it in the news....(innate selfish human nature !)

I first heard it in the Munich airport 2 weeks ago, I was on my way to catch a plane to Heathrow and I got there earlier to change some money. I dropped-off my bag, got some english pounds (really new crisp notes :D), went through security check, passport control and was at the gate in less than 20 minutes and I was completely surprised!

The airport seemed so empty that it was eerie...while I was wondering if I had missed a bomb threat or a pilot strike in the news, I heard someone say in a very scottish accent something about a bomb (I didn't quite get that 'something' because it was a scottish accent or at least I thought so)....I had this weird feeling in my stomach but let it go and went to sleep as soon as I boarded.

When I reached London, I was prepared for a torrent of questions, fingerprinting, body scans and everything possible since I had heard horror stories of going through Heathrow and to make that worse, there were signboards everywhere saying "Immigration rules are more stringent now than before and we request your understanding" (I never really understand what that means though!)....the immigration counter was empty but for 2 others (uh...oh...weird feeling in stomach back) and the only question I was asked was ''are you in UK for business''...I nodded, she stamped.

I was headed to Southampton and when I got there, I heard something about a bomb....(weird feeling getting worse)....then I heard some more....they found a bomb, traffic is closed etc. and by this point I was really thinking of things I had wanted to do and never got to...but what I found even more disturbing was my morbid fascination and excitement in learning all the details about the bomb in the vicinty (oh..I should stop watching law and order and other violent movies !)....then came the biggest bulb....it was an unexploded world war II bomb that was discovered ! Apparently, Southampton was bombed heavily during the war and bombs showing up like this was quite common.....!

I ended up feeling guilty for my excitement and it was for nothing...oh...dear !