Tom Stieghorst
My daughter texted me at my London hotel at 5 a.m. Sunday: Stay safe.
It wasn't until I finally awoke three hours later that I understood. A card had been slipped under the door of my room.
"Please be informed that due to the terror attack last night at London Bridge, we advise you to reconsider your planned journey and other itinerary."
Uh-oh.
Reading that card felt more like a scene from a movie than from my life. I broke out my computer and went online. About the time I was turning in for bed on Saturday night, there was a scene from hell playing out a couple of miles away.
What are the odds?
That's the question that plays on my mind as I think about these incidents. How do I calculate the odds of becoming part of such a scene?
I had known I would be coming to London for weeks. I was here to join a cruise of the newly refurbished Queen Victoria leaving from Southampton on Sunday evening. The night in London beforehand was a courtesy extended by Cunard Line to enhance our stay and help with the adjustment to a new time zone.
A few weeks before there had been a bombing in a different English city, Manchester. I paused to factor that into my calculations, but not for a moment did I consider backing out of the Queen Victoria cruise.
What are the odds? It's the same question that sometimes flashes through my mind when the jets power up and I hurtle down the runway. What are the odds that this will be the last time I leave the ground alive?
I have an old work colleague who was a pilot who stopped flying small planes because he decided his odds were diminishing. I used to ride bicycles with a friend who told me that sooner or later everyone who rides bicycles has an accident. He had his accident and now we play tennis.
This is the second time within a year I've been in a city where terrorism struck. Last summer I flew home from Nice the day a truck plowed through a crowd of people by the beach.
What are the odds? I think to answer that question, most people consult their emotional barometer. Some people won't fly at all because their barometer won't allow it. So far my barometer isn't telling me to stop traveling to Europe.
So I declined to reconsider my planned journey. I got on the bus to Southampton and when I'm done with the cruise I'll be going back to London, God willing, to enjoy a few extra days in one of the great cities of the world.
As they say here: Keep calm and carry on.