Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

It was quite nice, this last weekend, because I met up with a lot of friends from all around the world who I rarely get to see. But occasions like this (ones that have been planned well in advance) give me a chance to catch up with them, and they are very welcome.

Really, it was at a party with old university friends, and guys from my old football team, gathering together and sharing old stories.

We had a barbecue, out there next to the lake, and even had a game of football on our old university grounds. Ducks waddled by with a trail of little ducklings, and the rain held off until we were leaving, so all in all it was very good.

But as I wandered down to the campus shop to buy a drink or two, I noticed a CCTV camera above the cash machine, and another next to the shop entrance. And there were more, dotted here and there around the place, that made me feel as though I was in Big Brother.

I don’t like feeling as though I’m in Big Brother. And I was brooding over that for the rest of the day.

But then, on the way back home, I was browsing the net on my phone, and I saw something to balance those feelings out. I missed the news of the New York bomb incident, but I did read up on it afterwards — and it sounds as though now footage has been released of a possible suspect on CCTV.

And if that can lead to his capture and questioning — especially if he’s in any way involved — then that more than makes up for being watched going in and out of a shop.

CCTV monitoring systems are all about our safety, at the end of the day.