Tuesday, February 22, 2011

libya thing, very serious

It is rather alarming how quickly the situation in Libya regressed. Our own situation with no running operations should not be surprising given the lawlessness that has broken out in much of the country, not just the protests in Tripoli. And of course efforts are being made to evacuate expatriate employees.

People are getting out of the country, but it is an ongoing process. There has been a very candid thread available internally on the company website about the situation that is very interesting to say the least. As usual, no details, but the comments reveal a lot about how people respond to adversity. With hindsight, things are very easy to claim now, but plans don't get that luxury. (I want to discuss this more in a couple days, the concept of hindsight and compare Libya to another event from last year.)

In a crisis, I feel like noting two things:
1. Mental well-being is almost as important as physical well-being during a crisis. This is not about false delusions of hope or things like that, but staying positive is very important as a source of strength. It can provide the resolve to keep moving through an otherwise desperate or seemingly hopeless situation and that can mean the difference between life and death for some.
2. I have seen many well wishes and prayers sent out in the comments section to this internal company post, and I realize this can help with point 1 about mental well-being, but it does seem rather awkward. I'm stuck in a sort of a catch-22 about this, since I know hopes and prayers don't actually do anything in a direct tangible way, but they are important for bolstering point 1. Myself, if I was in that situation, I'd rather not get hopes and prayers, but some assurance that a plan was being worked on.

4 comments:

buickguy said...

I bet you would want both.

fatuity said...

Hopes and prayers are a bunch of hot air. That's the polite way to say BS.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with point 2 and fatuity. However it is still alarming the percentage of world population (buickguy included) deluded by this hot and long time fetid air.

As for the morons who send their prayers and hopes they may just want to show their useless "solidarity" to boost their own image

d-otheranonymous said...

Hopes, prayers, good luck, best wishes and many more of these types of choice words are meaningless when you hear it from a stranger.