Last night, a suicide bomber attacked a concert venue in Manchester.
Just after Ariana Grande finished her set, fans were subjected to the worst end to a night. 22 and counting lost their lives. The first named are just kids. Many are injured or missing. My social media feeds are filled with support, love, prayers, thoughts. I've seen so many offers of help and solidarity. The outpouring of raw emotion, whether that be anger in what's happened, pride in a city that's come together in support, or sympathy for those involved, has overtaken most people's feeds, and thoughts, today.
I can't tell you exactly why I felt so overcome when I read this news this morning.
Maybe it's because I've been a teenage girl at a pop concert.
I've mentioned it before, but concerts are my happy place. They're months of excitement counting down to an evening of pure joy and escapism from whatever's going on in your life. It's two hours where you get to sing and dance and be in the same room as one of your favourite people on the planet. You usually go with friends or family and you get to share that experience with so many others feeling the same thing.
Pop gigs, especially, are a very unique place. An arena full of girls getting to enjoy themselves with their idols, with who drives them, their true passion, is such a joy to witness. Pop music is inextricably linked with young girls, everyone knows it.
Maybe it's because it happened in a Northern city.
You know, as a privileged white lass you don't imagine your home to ever be targeted like this. We watch the news and see things like this happening in the East and don't really pay much attention because what can we do? I wish it weren't that way. But then this happens in bigger cities, Berlin, Paris. And it becomes scary, if this is happening in Europe we might be at risk. But no, surely not, we live in the UK. And then London suffers something similar. But no, we're not a capital city... why would anyone bother up here?
It just goes to show that nowhere is safe. Yes, ISIS have claimed responsibility but they do for most things, to cling to the fear and make it their own. We don't know if the person who did this in Manchester was even born abroad and people are already badmouthing Islam. Surely any sane person can separate extremism from the Islam faith that helps so many other people. It's like saying the KKK represents all of Christianity. Or serial killers who so happen to be atheists represent everyone who doesn't believe. It's ridiculous.
Maybe it's because the victims are kids and I spend my days working with kids.
When I first got to school today I genuinely felt so sick and didn't think I'd make it through the day. How could I speak to these kids at school knowing that their British equivalents in Manchester were distraught, injured or even dead. These young kids, so innocent and happy, could so easily have something like this happen to them.
Or maybe it's because I'm going to Manchester next week for a concert.
Now I know that security is probably going to be heightened massively after this but you know, what if this person had waited a week? What if they'd decided to attack the Etihad stadium rather than the MEN Arena. What if.
Nobody goes to a gig thinking their life could be in danger. Nobody deserves it.
There's not a lot we can do but there are some things we should;
I can't tell you exactly why I felt so overcome when I read this news this morning.
Maybe it's because I've been a teenage girl at a pop concert.
I've mentioned it before, but concerts are my happy place. They're months of excitement counting down to an evening of pure joy and escapism from whatever's going on in your life. It's two hours where you get to sing and dance and be in the same room as one of your favourite people on the planet. You usually go with friends or family and you get to share that experience with so many others feeling the same thing.
Pop gigs, especially, are a very unique place. An arena full of girls getting to enjoy themselves with their idols, with who drives them, their true passion, is such a joy to witness. Pop music is inextricably linked with young girls, everyone knows it.
Maybe it's because it happened in a Northern city.
You know, as a privileged white lass you don't imagine your home to ever be targeted like this. We watch the news and see things like this happening in the East and don't really pay much attention because what can we do? I wish it weren't that way. But then this happens in bigger cities, Berlin, Paris. And it becomes scary, if this is happening in Europe we might be at risk. But no, surely not, we live in the UK. And then London suffers something similar. But no, we're not a capital city... why would anyone bother up here?
It just goes to show that nowhere is safe. Yes, ISIS have claimed responsibility but they do for most things, to cling to the fear and make it their own. We don't know if the person who did this in Manchester was even born abroad and people are already badmouthing Islam. Surely any sane person can separate extremism from the Islam faith that helps so many other people. It's like saying the KKK represents all of Christianity. Or serial killers who so happen to be atheists represent everyone who doesn't believe. It's ridiculous.
Maybe it's because the victims are kids and I spend my days working with kids.
When I first got to school today I genuinely felt so sick and didn't think I'd make it through the day. How could I speak to these kids at school knowing that their British equivalents in Manchester were distraught, injured or even dead. These young kids, so innocent and happy, could so easily have something like this happen to them.
Or maybe it's because I'm going to Manchester next week for a concert.
Now I know that security is probably going to be heightened massively after this but you know, what if this person had waited a week? What if they'd decided to attack the Etihad stadium rather than the MEN Arena. What if.
Nobody goes to a gig thinking their life could be in danger. Nobody deserves it.
There's not a lot we can do but there are some things we should;
- sign up as a blood donor / organ donor - if something like this happens again, people need our help.
- share information and support on social media - they say millennials don't have any power, let's show what we can do.
- keep going to gigs, to football matches, to museums, to theme parks - don't let them win.
- NOT target people of a certain religion because you think they're responsible.
- stay safe
- make sure the people you love know that you do
Signing off here because there's nothing left to say
From one heartbroken pop fan to another
All the love
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