As you would imagine, Sydney has been very somber this week. Returning to work on Tuesday was a surreal experience - the train was really quiet as was the station, which is unusual. A good bit of Martin Place was still closed off.
By Tuesday afternoon though, most of Martin Place had been reopened except for the areas still closed off by police. By the end of the day, there were hundreds of flowers laid down and the queue to buy them was 30 people long. But the whole area was just dead silent. It was one of the most incredible, moving things I'd ever seen. From our office, I could watch the pile of flowers grow over the day.
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| The spot of color in the center of the picture is the flower memorial |
I went by to pay my respects, and on the way to the station, I couldn't walk 10 feet without seeing someone heading toward Martin Place, carrying their own flowers to lay.
On Wednesday, people spent their entire lunch hour queueing to buy flowers and then queueing again to lay them down. The line to pay respects snaked up and down the walkway.
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| The line to lay flowers |
The vantage point from our office has been interesting. On Monday we were told to stay away from the windows, but everyone knew that we could look out and see where terrible things were happening. It was all anyone could think about - being so close yet so helpless. Through the rest of the week, it was somewhat comforting: any time I looked out the window I could see what felt like the entire city gathering to show their support and sorrow for the victims. It was surreal and amazing at the same time.
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| You can see people queued to buy flowers at the bottom of the picture |
There has definitely been an increased police presence in the city. But more than that, people are being especially kind to one another and looking out for each other. People in my building (from other companies) ask how you're doing when you're in the lift together. The truth is that it could have been any one of us. So the best of Sydneysiders is on display, and people are going into the holiday season feeling grateful and so lucky that they can go home and hug the ones they love. Or maybe that's just me. =)
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Wow that is really moving. During the times of such tragedy and sadness comes the best of the human spirit. I've felt the same way each night when we get home so grateful we all made it back safe. The school massacre in Pakistan has been really heavy on my mind too, really extra difficult to swallow during the holidays.
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