Spare a thought for the Athenian fire crew that tackled the blaze at Marfin Egnatia Bank in the city centre today.Like thousands of other Greek public servants, they face the prospect of drastic cuts in their pay and benefits.
They also have to come to terms with the finding the dead bodies of three bank workers they found inside, who had been overcome by smoke after a Molotov Cocktail was thrown into the bank by an angry protestor.
Spare a thought too for the fiance of one of the victims who heard the unthinkable reply when he asked if she was alive - and what had become of their unborn child....
Spare a thought for the family and friends of that young mother-to-be, and those of the two other people who lost their lives with her today. They are most likely simple hard-working people trying their best to make ends meet in difficult times.
Today's victims had chosen - either out of necessity or principle - not to join the general strike and protest outside Parliament against the austerity measures the Greek Government plans to impose in a bid to pay back the massive bail-out to cover the huge National Debt. It was as much their right to work as it was the right of the protestors to make their voices heard.
Greeks have protest woven into their DNA. As a people, they have been through a lot in their recent history including fierce resistance to Nazi occupation during WWII, bitter civil strife after that war ended and a military dictatorship - all in living memory. The right to protest is one they hold dear. A right they exercise often - and loudly.
But Greeks are also a friendly and peace-loving (though noisy) people, and the deaths of three innocent workers as a result of today's disruption has shaken most people to the core.
Among them are the firemen who made their macabre discovery in the burning bank, and the policemen who faced a barrage of rocks, chairs and burning bottles in Syntagma Square.
So, spare a thought for them as they head home to nurse their bruised limbs and battered psyches, having come face-to-face with the human cost of violence, and wonder how they too are going to make ends meet in the months to come....
Spare a thought for the family and friends of that young mother-to-be, and those of the two other people who lost their lives with her today. They are most likely simple hard-working people trying their best to make ends meet in difficult times.
Today's victims had chosen - either out of necessity or principle - not to join the general strike and protest outside Parliament against the austerity measures the Greek Government plans to impose in a bid to pay back the massive bail-out to cover the huge National Debt. It was as much their right to work as it was the right of the protestors to make their voices heard.
Greeks have protest woven into their DNA. As a people, they have been through a lot in their recent history including fierce resistance to Nazi occupation during WWII, bitter civil strife after that war ended and a military dictatorship - all in living memory. The right to protest is one they hold dear. A right they exercise often - and loudly.
But Greeks are also a friendly and peace-loving (though noisy) people, and the deaths of three innocent workers as a result of today's disruption has shaken most people to the core.
Among them are the firemen who made their macabre discovery in the burning bank, and the policemen who faced a barrage of rocks, chairs and burning bottles in Syntagma Square.
So, spare a thought for them as they head home to nurse their bruised limbs and battered psyches, having come face-to-face with the human cost of violence, and wonder how they too are going to make ends meet in the months to come....
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