how cruel can it be

I took the day off from work last Friday - had to undergo drug test for my driver's license and I had to go to the bank for my bank certificate. Late that afternoon, I went to the office to meet with the groupmates and together, go to Jom's place for his farewell party before he flies to Singapore next week and lead a new life.

While we were having our dinner, I casually asked Kristine on the latest news in the office, thinking she would just update me on another funny yet mundane happening. And so I totally wasn't prepared to hear the news she told me - that 4 JGC managers working for IGD Pj were killed in a road accident in Abu Dhabi. My eyes must have been as big as saucers as I exclaimed "WHAAAAT??! HOW? WHEN? WHY??!!". My heart sank as I hear more of the story and yet my mind still can't comprehend what happened and why it happened. As talk went to the subject of overspeeding in the Middle East, I thought of the possibility that my special someone would get to be assigned at site every now and then and my heart was gripped with fear. Worry now settled in as well as I thought about what he must have felt about the incident.

Of course, like a lot of people, I'm angry with the truck driver who was so reckless that he didn't check any oncoming traffic thus killing 5 people. But foremost in my thoughts was how unprepared those 5 must have been with their deaths. They were not able to say goodbye to their loved ones, were not able to say their farewells and to express their thoughts and feelings to the people who are important to them. Their dreams and aspirations just cut off, with nary a warning. It was such a tragedy.

And yes, how sad and cruel it is to die without even saying goodbye to those dearest to you...

This tragedy has a lot of effects in a lot of facets with big resulting complications. I can only hope that their deaths will bring about good changes in Abu Dhabi's traffic laws. In that way, their deaths won't be in vain.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/4-japanese-among-5-killed-in-traffic-accident-in-abu-dhabi

This reminds me yet again though, to tell your loved ones, everyday, as often as you can, how special they are to you.

H2S and Benzene

I got really angry with this conversation. But since I was the only one who felt most passionate with it and i'm the youngest to boot at that, having the youngest experience at site, and we were really talking with one of the higher ups, I just held my peace during the meeting. But really....!!

This was during a meeting after we just got back from our site walk-through:

Us: We were not able to thoroughly check those areas which were strictly marked as H2S and Benzene areas since we don't have the required PPE and detectors.
Boss: But were there any evacuations that occurred at that time because of some leak? There were none? So it was safe.

I was definitely fuming with that. I wanted to retort and tell him to go to site himself and check on the place without the necessary PPE and detectors. With the kind of mentality he has, let's see if he'll come out alive. I want to shove to him the news about the death at that particular site just two years ago because of H2S related death.

I am most definitely not gonna risk my life just for that!!!! Grrrr!