I had another hectic schedule for yesterday. A 7-magnitude earthquake happened in Jiuzhaigou on August 8th, the wonderland once so beautiful almost like a heaven, a place 8 hours’ ride from Chengdu. When I checked my WeChat groups in the morning, I was not surprised to find that some of my colleagues had already worked overnight. It brought back so many memories about 512 Sichuan Earthquake.

Honestly, this is one of the precious moments that I do feel proud of my job. Telecommunication happens to be one of the declining industries. We have long past our glorious days. The quarterly financial reports keep warning us that the next round of layoff might be just right at the corner. It’s unavoidable. Modern way of communication, like webchat, is the game changer for the industry. The exclusive role of the operators has gradually vanished. Meanwhile, the technology development requires less and less personnel on Network Maintenance.  Many colleagues have left, willingly or unwillingly. As for those who still stay have already accepted the reality. Yeah, take a fluid situation, and see whether the winds take us. After all it’s just a job.

However, there are times that it’s more than that. Those who have not experienced any natural disaster would never truly understand how important the communication could be, and how desperate it would become without it. When 512 Sichuan Earthquake happened, the network couldn’t handle the sudden surge of traffic overflowing, the communication went dead. The greatest dread came from the unknown. Without knowing what happened to my parents and son, I was almost driven to crazy. I squeezed myself into an overcrowded bus, but had to get off half way and then walked home there because the traffic went completely dead. It was such a great relief to see that all of them safe. While I was heading home, many of my colleagues already started to work. They were working hard to bring the network back to work. Some of the engineers had been assigned to the most hit areas. They left for those dangerous places without even returning home.

It was a crazy period. As one of the admin staffs, I got involved in the safe and almost cozy part. Reports, records, logistic stuff. But some of my colleagues, like the soldiers, the policemen, worked in the first front line. They are just normal people. But none of them said No, not even thinking of it.There’s a point to every job. We tend to take things for granted. But behind every simple daily activity, how many efforts are behind?