Bloggers are funny sometimes. An explosion takes place in a high-class shopping mall and we immediately come through with a bunch of frenzied blog posts and digital photographs. An earthquake shakes the entire metropolis, though, and suddenly the Internet is a quiet place.
If anyone's curious, I was in the middle of a twelve-hour training session on the 20th floor of my office building. I distinctly felt the first tremors, but I didn't pay much attention to them because I assumed that it was the boredom kicking in. It was only when the class started buzzing (and our Indian trainer actually put one hand against a desk to keep his balance) that I realized that something big was going down.
The first thing that went through my mind was, hey... it's an earthquake. The second thing that went through my mind was, what floor am I on again? And the third thing that went through my mind was, that's cool... but now I've got to get back to work.
Yes, it has come to my attention that I may be working too hard.
I didn't feel an inch of apprehension as the floor shifted under my seat, to be honest. Either I was jaded at the prospect of twenty stories collapsing under me, or I had somehow resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't likely to be the first person out of the fire exits. So I merely stretched in my seat and relaxed, which got me quite a few stares.
I did expect a few aftershocks, though, and was sorely disappointed. This is not to scare anyone or convince myself of my overbearing masculinity, mind you; it's just that every earthquake I've ever experienced involved aftershocks in some way. I consider them to be one of nature's subtle little ways of reminding you who's boss.
In the five-minute break that followed, I was able to send off three or four text messages before the service died all of a sudden. I assume that this was because the shock finally wore off for the majority, and everybody decided to text everybody else at the same time.
I did a quick check of my work e-mail some hours later, and noted that nobody had decided to post anything on this interesting development yet. Maybe everybody else was jaded, too. I mean, after consecutive government scandals, a mall explosion, and three typhoons all joining up with each other above our heads, there's not much left that can get us to sit up and take notice.
Ah, well. Maybe there'll be one tomorrow.
*Waits*
2 comments:
It could be due to the fact that the intensity is different in each place. I was in the Taguig area, and I hardly felt it. I wouldn't even have known there was an earthquake if my friend hadn't told me so. And our building didn't bother with the alarms and other safety procedure stuff either.
Ida: Well, yes. I just found out that only the Makati and Ortigas areas seemed to have been the most sensitive to the shaking.
On alarms and safety procedures... I came into the office this morning to find that somebody had promptly put up a bunch of brand, spanking new safety posters all over the place. That's human nature to a T, I suppose. :)
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