There it was, my first huge earthquake on Wednesday. My initial reaction, honestly, was to hide under the table. Believe me, I was this close to do just that, while dozens of my coworkers were starting to yell and run.
Of all Globians, I was probably the only one who took a moment to grab my backpack before running out. Mind you, my oh-so-precious Blackberry was in hand, while my other two phones, the phones that have been with me all these years, were neglected on the desk.
So we ran nine floors downstairs, my fingers shaky and my feet wobbly. I kept thinking why the fuck were there so many stair flights and how they never seemed to end. I thought, a helmet would come in very handy right about then.
While running, I and a friend along with our desk editor discussed, half jokingly, who was going to write the story. Finally, we got a page-1 headline.
Outside, throngs of people were scattered on the street, ignorant to the passing cars.
Half an hour into the awkward laughters and pitchy voices repeating "I thought it was only some minor construction shake," we went back upstairs.
And while half of Jakartans were crammed bumper to bumper on the street because they were let go earlier by their offices, I and the rest of the news crew started our day.
Plaza Semanggi was dead for a while. The office employees were restricted from re-entering the building, and some of the shops were closed.
Still, we were trying to make any phone calls we could to get statements from authorities.
I had planned to meet up with some of my dearest friends tonight. And I was looking forward to it because malls and donuts and besties are always the perfect drug for me. However, I ended up going home at 9, as usual, sleepy and tired.
But somehow, I loved the rush back there.
No comments:
Post a Comment