I sell car parts for a living. Retail walk in customers and heavy phone traffic. At 10:55 the phones all go on hold and the radio broadcast gets turned up. With 2 customers in the store no one had to say a word. We all stopped, bowed our heads and listened. I grew up the son of an immigrant who after only 5 years here joined the Perth Regiment at the age of 17. The voices of those original broadcasts 20 years before I was born were not new to me.
Over the next few minutes a couple more customers walked in the door. Not 1 took more than 3 steps in the building before realising what time and day it was. Hats were removed and heads bowed to listen as if the news broadcasts we listened to was now, not 1945.
After the last trumpet note was played to end the silence business resumed. We carried on as our freedom allows us to every day. Not a word was spoken about what we had just listened to, or the private thoughts within our heads. No one had to say a thing. The looks on everyone's faces said it all.
