However, the bottom line (literally) is that there are still people going out on leave and coming back in, aircraft are still being flown and fixed, people (as is their wont) are still complaining about dripping taps and the like.
So life continues after a fashion.
That is something I find hard to understand. When there was a mining accident here in Aus not long ago, the mine stopped work until the men were rescued.
Do the particular companies concerned really just go about their business as though nothing has happened? I think it's Bristow, Sparrows, Oceaneering and Nautilus that have had people taken from Eket who are still captives. Does work really just keep going for the local branches of those companies, as though nothing has happened?
I suppose that the families have someone to contact at the relevant employer companies of the captives. Do those people still take leave, leave for their rostered time off etc as normal when it comes up, and just "hand over" the task of communicating with the loved ones at home? If so, what message does that send to them?
If things were THAT bad,wouldn't a lot more people be leaving ?
It's probably easy for those who have not faced such dangers themselves, eg not been taken captive, to feel that things aren't "THAT bad". Maybe the guys (I think they are all men) who have been taken might not feel that way. Perhaps they will decide that it's not worth being there and if/when they are released, they might just choose not to return. I suppose it will depend on their experiences while they are captives, how their families feel about it etc.
might seem less attractive, less important and of less value when you've been faced with being a hostage, or being the family of a hostage.