On the days when I am not flying, I would consider myself a member of the public and I would be in awe if I saw a helicopter flying under a bridge, I rember a couple of years ago watching helicopters flying under the Golden gate bridge in San Francisco, thought it was kind of cool, (but then again, maybe I have a slightly biased view)
The people who seem shocked by this are the people who havn't really flown outside the U.k. who have forgotten the reason they learned to fly in the first place, since all the crap that the CAA comes out with was forced upon them.
I doubt people learned to fly for the sole purpose of flying directly from A to B within the exact perameters set out by the Authorities (I doubt it, but I could be wrong!)
Imagine the CAA was in charge of the waterways, the economy would grind to a halt, no barges would be aloud within a couple of miles of any structure in case of engine failure or a rudder breaks and could possibly be blown onto a bridge.
Imagine the size of the MEL, the idea of having oil tankers would be laughed at, any body who wants to operate a watercraft including a simple Windsurfer would have to sit written exams and pass competency checks each year, and if you had passengers on board the qualifications you would need (A six year degree course from oxford!) every body would need medicals, would have to be type rated on any new watercraft that they want to use, and any other pointless hoops that they can think of to justify there exsistance.