Back in the land of the living

I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation today... four days without blogging has left me ravenous! Yes, I'm still a little sick, but nothing would keep me away from work today. Who knew blogging could be such an enormous incentive to come to work?

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I wish I had some interesting, funny tale to tell about my four days of enforced bed-rest. But alas! That's not to be. I had the most boring time ever. Slept most of every day away, watched movies I've seen before. Read a little. Ate whenever I really had to. (That's probably one good thing - I might have shed a kg or two... then again, little eating + v little activity probably cancels eachother out anyway. Oh well... a little wishful thinking never hurt anyone.)

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But something happened in Durban this weekend that's left all of us reeling. One of our most favourite restaurants in Durban, called St Tropez, was robbed at gunpoint on Saturday night. Unfortunately, robberies like that are not overly shocking for us South Africans anymore. It has become so mundane that most of us hardly bat an eyelash at "incidents". But this time, there were a few people shot and one of them, someone Robin studied with, was killed when he tried to wrestle the weapon from one of the criminal's hands. We are so shocked that something this horrific could happen to someone Robin knew and respected, at one of our favourite haunts.

The story has received mention in numerous newspapers across South Africa but the horror of it all is just how "close to home" crime has come. Every South African knows someone on a first-hand basis, whose life has been wrecked by crime. I can't even count on one hand the number of close friends and family we have who have been held at gun-point within just the last two years. It is shocking and disgusting that a family outing can turn into an horrific gruesome nightmare. Where can we go to escape it? It is nauseating.

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I don't know. I guess it's just so incredibly unbelievable that something this horrible could happen at a place we loved. A place we'd happily go to every weekend, if the opportunity presented itself. And to someone Robin knew. How very sad. It makes me long for the day we get to go Home, to the place God is preparing for us. Where tears will be a thing of the past, and where security guards, doctors, undertakers and lawyers will have to find a new profession. I can't wait!