Close, but yet so far away

Today was a strange day.

I knew that many people would be on strike (requiring me to drive to work as public transportation was shut down), and that many would be gathered in the Center, at the parliament building, to protest. Generally, strikes are no big deal in my world. I may have to plan around them, whether it means public transportation is shut down, or certain offices are closed. As stated by Kat Christopher, of guardian.co.uk, "strikes are as common as traffic at rush hour and regarded by residents as annoyances around which lives continue unimpeded." I completely agree.

Typically, I don't find myself near the Center. But today, going to meet a couple friends for coffee, I was driving down the street and noticed smoke up ahead. The view at that moment was directly towards the Center. I figured it wasn't a good sign for what might be happening related to the protests. After parking, and losing that view down the street, I didn't think about it again.

One of the great things about Greece is the culture of joining friends at a cafe, particularly in nice weather, to enjoy a coffee and stimulating conversation. It was one of those afternoons; great company and weather together. We were there for 2 hours, but I could have continued on for two more. Of course, the topic of the state of things here came up - all of us sharing mostly similar views. But we didn't really discuss the protesting itself, happening only 1 mile away from us (as the crow flies). It could have been 20 miles away for as much as I gave it thought.

As I was driving home afterwards, I was on the phone with my hubby who is currently out to sea. Rather than hear on the news, or in a buzz at the cafe, I heard from him that 3 were killed today as a result of the rioting that took place while we were enjoying our coffee 1 mile away. (Perhaps it happened before we sat down, I don't know the timing - but you get my drift). I am fairly certain that the smoke I saw while driving there was the same smoke that killed the 3 bank workers, stuck in the upper floor of their building. It is very surreal to know how close, yet how clueless, we were to what was taking place.

Greeks consider protesting as somewhat akin to an "inalienable right". As our Prime Minister said, "Everyone has a right to protest, but no one has a right to violence". It's not those who are truly protesting for what they believe in, but those who always tag along to protests simply to make trouble, who cause the damage and injury - and now death. I am so tired of Molotov cocktails and burning cars andgarbage bins on the TV. I am ready for this country to move on with fixing things.

And I am so sorry for the families of those bank employees.