I probably know more people who live in Boston than in any other city in the world where I haven’t lived myself. I’ve been there as much on business as for fannish reasons. Last night was a bit worrying. As far as I can make out, everyone I know is safe and well. And, as these things go, it turns out that one of my closest connections (the closest probably being Theodora Goss whose office is just down the road from where the bombing happened) was someone I know in Bristol whose father was running in the Boston Marathon (he’s OK too).

My Twitter feed was full of people doing there best to be helpful, and seeking news of loved ones. In amongst it, inevitably, were a few people pointing out that atrocities of a similar magnitude occur on a fairly regular basis around the globe. This is also true. We don’t react to them in the same way because we don’t know people in those places, and can’t imagine ourselves being in those places. I don’t think that’s a piece of human nature it will be easy to change.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it. Thanks to the Internet it is now vastly easier and cheaper to make connections around the world. If bad things were to happen in Delhi or Manilla or São Paulo or Cairo, well I know people there too, and I’d worry about them. Hopefully this makes me a little less blinkered.

In the meantime, Boston folks, stay safe and stay strong. I’d be back to visit if I could.