The e-age and mass exodus

One of my younger cousins is getting married next month and I just went though the process of buying her stuff from her wedding registry. I've bought from a registry only once before, but that was for a person living in the Netherlands. This time, I went online, chose the presents, ordered them, and they'll now be sent directly to my cousin, all wrapped and with a notecard included, so I'll have bought her gifts that I only saw from photos online and never touched myself. Such is the 21st century.

In other news, O was reading nu.nl and the lead story was that the Bos en Lommerplein, 5 minutes from our house, was being cleared out because they need to research if the structure of the plein is safe. Things first came into question in February when a delivery truck parked on the top level of the plein caused a crack that shut down the underground area for a few days and forced the market that sits on the upper level to move to a nearby street for a few weeks. They put in reinforcement beams in the lower part, but apparently there is still doubt as to how safe the buildings are. Suddenly this evening they shut down the plein and the nearly 200 residents all had to move out to hotels. We went to check it out and O took some photos. There were a lot of cops, as well as fire trucks and ambulances, the whole perimeter of the plein was blocked off, and people were heading out with stuffed suitcases, backpacks, and the occasional pet in a carrier. It must really suck, they say it could be weeks before people are let back in. Though what if they declare that it's too unsafe to go back into? And it's a bit unnerving that for 5 months they let people go about their business and let the market fill the square again, but now, so suddenly that people had to move out in 4 hours, they say that the whole plein has to be empty for awhile. We'll have the slight inconvenience of not being able to do our groceries in our normal shops for awhile, but I really feel for the people forced out of their houses.