The National Youth Agency: Comment - Underground talk

Recently I attended an event at Westminster, a trip that naturally involved tube travel. Though my visit to London was on a day that did not involve shootings or bungled bombing attempts, the atmosphere of disquiet on the tube was tangible. Tangible, but not quite visible. People still stood there staring into space, at their shoes, or with their heads buried in a newspaper. A few pretended to sleep. I sat opposite a young Muslim man who, like most travellers, had some baggage with him. Was it purely my imagination or did people deliberately edge away from him? Why did passengers joining the train choose to cram themselves in a huddle together rather than taking the two or three seats available at either side of him? Perhaps they were just hopping on and hopping off, and sitting down would have been more trouble than it was worth.