IT WAS quiet on Tathra wharf yesterday.
The overcast conditions somehow seemed to fit the occasion while police divers searching the ocean worked in the silence of the deep.
On Wednesday night it was even quieter, apart from the rain and the sound of the wind and waves crashing on the rocks.
It was a good time for reflection on how life can change quickly, dramatically and permanently.
Things were much different on Tuesday night.
Reflection then was on how communities such as ours have so many people who care and look out for us.
Watching the police, the paramedics and the lifesavers go about their work was enlightening.
As well, those who had raised the alarm watched intently, keeping silent and out of the way.
There was the person who ran up the hill to ring 000 and begin the whole chain of events leading to everyone being there.
There was the person who ran to the car and grabbed a baby seat and threw it into the sea because it might have assisted someone in the water.
And, of course, there was Rob Brown, a bloke who was on the wharf and unhesitatingly plunged into the water, not knowing what awaited him.
Mr Brown clung to the baby seat, which could possibly have been the difference between life and death.
His actions on the night were incredibly brave.
Inspector Jason Edm-unds was calm and controlled, communicating on his phone while his officers went about their business.
The ambulance officers were methodical and caring, attending to the patients in the way they had been trained.
Was it difficult, was it emotional?
Absolutely, but it is what we have come to expect from the men and women in those occupations.
When you see them at work in these circumstances, it is a timely reminder of how good they are.
However, it is when you watch volunteers in action that the message is rammed home.
There are many who work in a voluntary capacity for their community, but the way the members of the Tathra Surf Lifesaving Club conducted themselves was outstanding.
Their response was immediate and the training they had undertaken over many years was put to the test, which they passed extraordinarily well.
Whether trying to revive the people they had dragged from the sea, assisting the police and paramedics, or comforting Mr Brown in the clubhouse, from the you-nger members to those who were much more experienced, they were at their finest.
But they knew something was missing: they hadn’t saved anyone.
It would have been a much more buoyant mood later had anyone survived.
But they shouldn’t be dismayed; they did much more than anyone could have asked under circumstances which meant there was little chance of anyone surviving.
There has been much speculation about what happened and the circumstances which led to a father and his two sons dying.
Mainstream media, ta-lkback radio and people in the street all have voiced opinions, many of which have been uninformed.
Emotions in the local towns are running high.
It’s so very easy to be critical, easy to say what should or should not have been done; easy to be wise afterwards.
We don’t need that.
Nothing will bring anyone back, nothing will change.
Speculation and criticism is not needed.
There will be an investigation which will, obviously, look at things retrospectively.
However, as a society we need to think about what we do.
In the meantime, it must be said that hindsight is simple.
It’s not hindsight we need, but at times, a little more foresight.
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