Because of where I work, I find that I am sometimes playing a part time psychologist. That was the case today because I had lunch with a woman who wanted to talk about "the incident" as it's called around here. I was more than happy to listen. I guess my curiousity stems from the fact that I can't reconcile in my mind this friendly, laid-back place and what happened here. It seems so unreal to me. I guess the more details I learn, the more I can try to piece things together in my head. Except that the perspective she gave me today perplexed me even more.

She had worked closely with the guy and painted a very different picture than that of the media. He had been sociable and friendly to her, making her feel good about herself and encouraging her at her job. He would joke around, and even emceed a company Christmas party.

Then she told me about the panic and confusion and people escaping alive only because they hid under their desks and didn't make a sound, or having to step over the bodies of coworkers while running to get out of the building. This is all the more utterly hard to believe because these are not nameless faceless people, but people I know. People who have been nothing but nice to me since day one.

There are two things I keep going back to that I can't quite seem to process. One is how it could be possible for someone to do what he did. The other is the resilience of the human spirit to survive.  ¶ 4:28 PM