14/11/2015
In June 2014 I walked into Le Petit Cambodge, one of last night's terrorist attack scenes, to take photos for a guidebook. Of all the locations I visited, I remember this restaurant was a joy to walk into, with owners being very helpfull and an relaxed overall atmosphere. Despite the fact my visit lasted no longer than 15 minutes, this place felt like a good one to be. A (probably) Cambodian chef cooking up some tasty food, young and vibrant French owners&workers and clients from all over. A multicultural place in a multicultural city. A small place as well, with glass walls so you could see from afar what's cooking inside. Could that be a reason for these terrorists to attack exactly this place? Easy to drive by and a (now) literal shot through the heart of the local people... It is anyway what makes these crimes so hard to digest, such cowardly actions happening closer and closer to home. And even closer to home, the different reactions it provokes from people around us. I start looking differently at people I know, because of the things they say and share. My own reactions to people who I don't know and see spouting critisim on for example refugees, becomes more unfriendly. As been said and shared a million times already, this polarisation in our own society is a big threat to ourselves. It's hard to maintain respect as an important value in life when people are so opposite to each other and differ in their opinions the way they do. There are so many different views on how we are supposed to (re)act now, but the one thing we all can start with, is not treating anybody the way we want to be treated. Every place should be a place where you could walk in just like people did in Le Petit Cambodge, and every place should bring people together the way I saw it over there.
