Speechless: My Thoughts on the Paris Attacks

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” -Victor Hugo 

At the time of writing this blog post, 128 people are dead after a night of explosions and gun fire that rocked Paris, France. The City of Light.

Gunmen stormed the Bataclan concert hall during the Eagles of Death Metal show. La Belle Equipe,Le Carillon bar, La Casa Nostra restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge restaurant.

French President Francois Hollande was among 80,000 people at Stade de France stadium watching a soccer match between France and Germany. So did a French TV audience of over a million people.

All of these places were attacked. By men with explosives and guns.
These men just wanted to watch The City of Lights burn to the ground.
By the end of this horrific night, 128 people lay dead.

128 innocent people. Dead.

I was periodically catching up media outlets reporting on the devastating attacks during my work shift last night. I was on my lunch break at work when I had the time to really digest the events in France.

At first, no one knew what was going on. Explosions and gunfire riddled Paris. No one claimed responsibility. Reports of a rock concert being attacked and 20 or so hostages held.

128 innocent people dead.

It became eerily quiet at work as the news spread about the attacks. No one was really talking to each other like we normally do.

We have an international crew at work. Cambodia, China, the Philippines, South Korea, England, and the United States all represented in the warehouse. We live on laughter, sharing our cultures and learning from each other in order to achieve our work goals as a team.

But not today.
it was very quiet.
No laughter.
No smiles.
Just shock and bewilderment.
Silence.

The only thing that we being talked about for the eight hours of our shift was the horrific events in Paris. Everything that was discussed was talked about in a very hushed and reverent voice.

We were reverent to a city most of us have never visited in a country most of us will probably never travel. We were concerned for a people and a place so foreign to us.

I do not understand what possesses someone, or a group of people, to hate a people so much that killing their global brothers and sisters is so vastly more important rather than learning from them in order to grow into being a better person.

We may come from different backgrounds or different cultures but we all should strive to be one united people. One massive global tribe. A  collective of experiences, cultures and ideas that we should have the freedom to learn from and to share with one another. All of us need one another in order to make a difference in the world.

But tonight, as the skies are crying in Seattle. Half a world away from Paris…
I am just so very heart-broken for Parisians and the French people alike.

128 innocent people are dead.

These innocent people had no idea that Friday, November 13 2015 was their last night on this moral coil. These people just wanted to enjoy a night out in Paris. Have a meal at their favorite restaurant with their loved ones or watch a soccer match with their mates or even brave the moshpit of an American hard rock band.

And yet 128 innocent people are dead.

I am just speechless.
Just so very fucking speechless.

I have no words, really.
No thoughts on how to prevent this senseless tragedy from happening again.
I have no political soapbox to stand on and preach about guns, terrorism, or immigration.
No use for finger pointing toward any faction or sleeper cell or terrorist group.

I have nothing really overly profound or philosophical to say about staying strong or forgiveness.

I wish each Parisian love and prayers.
This is all we really can do right now.

Mes pensées et mes prières sont avec le peuple de Paris.
Que Dieu vous bénisse dans votre heure de besoin.

Credit to the BBC for information in this blog post. 
The featured image is from artist named Jean Jullien.