It all started when Nosemonkey blogged an email he got from the states. Someone wanted to buy a round for the people of London in solidarity.
Well, actually it all started when some guys decided that Londoners were legitimate target for indescriminate terror. But this particular story started with a a good piece of blogging, a meme, and some generosity from around the world.
Last night the Observer blog went down to an inexclusive and very democratic West London hostelrie where the World - as coralled by a London blogger - officially bought the city a pint. More specifically, it bought a pint for volunteers of the St John Ambulance, ordinary folk who found themselves providing front line emergency services on 7 July. One guy, Dave, was first on the scene in Tavistock Square. That was not an easy day for him.
Dave is a nice, self-deprecating man who ardently resists praise and insists on diffusing any suggestion of heroism in deference to his colleagues and everyone else who was there.
I was glad to see him getting a bit of hospitality from the global blogosphere.
