I hold the evening editions of The Argus from the day the West Pier was burnt down (Friday, March 28).

At the time, as I witnessed the fire from the beach, I told myself that, of course, the firemen could do nothing to put out the blaze.

I told myself that the money that was to be spent on restoring her could be better spent on hospitals and the homeless.

At the time, I didn't really want to read about how the West Pier Trust would soldier on regardless with its dream of restoring this old lady.

So I put the newspaper down and got on with other things until, today, when I took a second look at the picture of the burning pier on the front page and read the editorial again.

It occurred to me that the images of war fed to me unceasingly since mid-March had blunted my perceptions.

At the time, Britain had been at war for just over a week and, of course, buildings caught fire and burnt down and little old ladies - like the West Pier - just got in the way.

-Roz Hale, Hove