Sunday 6 May 2012

Food for thought

Last week a man wrapped himself in gas canisters (?) and took hostages the people from an office not far from mine. We hardly even knew something was happening until we started seeing more people than usual on the street, police everywhere and general mayhem. Soon we were notified that someone took some hostages in an nearby office and that we were in no direct threat so we were encouraged to stay away from the windows and carry on with our normal work.

Which we did. As if nothing happened. In fact I had some guests in one of the meeting rooms, people from our sister agency and their clients. I went in to let them know there was a hostage situation nearby and they might have troubles getting a taxi. They thanked me for the information and continued with their meeting as if nothing happened.

I stood perplexed. A few buildings away some people were in danger of losing their lives and the people in that meeting room didn't care. It was a scary thought especially as I had just realised that I probably reacted the same way. Some people were in danger of losing their lives only a hundred metres away and what was my first concern? To make sure the people in the meeting room get a taxi!?

It made me think about what life in a big city does to us. I never questioned it, I always knew I had to live in a big city but what's the price I have to pay? My own sensitivity reduced to a very thin, almost invisible layer? When exactly have we all become desensitised, when did we stop caring? Does it really have to hit us in the face to start thinking about anything other than ourselves? To be honest, if I was one of the people taken hostage, I would find some comfort in knowing that people stopped for a second from whatever it was that they were doing and thought about me. Of course, there isn't much any of us could have done in the situation, it was after all a police job. But just to stop and consider, remember we are still all human and life is not all about the marketing plan, sales targets, conference calls and whatever else. When facing death, we'd wish we had considered that before it was too late.

Fortunately, nobody died that day. My guests made it to the airport on time and everything went back to normal. It just got me thinking. We ought to feel more, really...

Stay inspired! 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Julianna,

    In our office there was an email informing us about the armed siege and telling us to avoid that area of central London on our way back home. I did have a look at the BBC website to find out the details, as I'm sure others did. I don't blame your guests, though, they must have been on a tight schedule.

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