First and foremost, a very Happy Birthday to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trixie_chick! May you have a great day and receive all the goodies you desire!
trixie_chick! May you have a great day and receive all the goodies you desire!Work, this weekend went pretty quietly but with one noticeable exception. Due to this happening on Saturday afternoon there is a heightened level of security at all UK airports. Now, where I work is pretty close to Liverpool Airport but not, I'd thought, so close as to get drawn into this.
I thought this right up to the point, two hours into my shift, when I looked out of the window and saw a police van driving into the courtyard. Our place has two big security gates before you get to the courtyard and so he wasn't just looking for a place to turn around. Out I go onto the loading bay to see what the problem is and I'm told that 'as a precaution' the police have set up a cordon around the airport and are evacuating everyone within it, but since we're an emergency service we'll be allowed to stay.
I have to say that once I was back inside the building with no-one around (having remained professional in front of the police and our security guard) there was a brief moment (2 seconds tops) of "Eeek" before I was back to work mode and making the necessary phone calls and arrangements. Keeping an eye on BBC 24 through the night I discovered that there was a suspect vehicle at the airport which was removed for forensic testing.
Being told that you are the wrong side of a police cordon, set up as a precaution for terrorism and due to the close proximity of large amounts of aviation fuel is a very interesting sensation and definitely not something that had crossed my mind when I started this job. That said I still think I was more nervous talking to Caitlain Kiernan in SL last week, or leastways my hands where shaking a lot more then.
I thought this right up to the point, two hours into my shift, when I looked out of the window and saw a police van driving into the courtyard. Our place has two big security gates before you get to the courtyard and so he wasn't just looking for a place to turn around. Out I go onto the loading bay to see what the problem is and I'm told that 'as a precaution' the police have set up a cordon around the airport and are evacuating everyone within it, but since we're an emergency service we'll be allowed to stay.
I have to say that once I was back inside the building with no-one around (having remained professional in front of the police and our security guard) there was a brief moment (2 seconds tops) of "Eeek" before I was back to work mode and making the necessary phone calls and arrangements. Keeping an eye on BBC 24 through the night I discovered that there was a suspect vehicle at the airport which was removed for forensic testing.
Being told that you are the wrong side of a police cordon, set up as a precaution for terrorism and due to the close proximity of large amounts of aviation fuel is a very interesting sensation and definitely not something that had crossed my mind when I started this job. That said I still think I was more nervous talking to Caitlain Kiernan in SL last week, or leastways my hands where shaking a lot more then.
