It doesn't change the whole world, like turning on a light switch - which is rather what is sometimes seen as implied by sayings such as "Nothing will ever be the same again", which always seem to crop up in these rare situations.

But this kind of experience does provide a chance for people to change some assumptions about the human world. And when an awful lot of people share that opportunity, all over the world, that could add up to something.

In particular there's the ready assumption that hangs around us which identifies being realistic with being cynical. Looking after number one, dog eats dog - that's the reality, anything else is a superficial gloss that disguises the rather unpleasant truth.

The drama of the 33 enables us to hope that this is a basically false assumption, and that it can be stood on its head. It's the cynical "realism" that is the superficial gloss. Loo0king out for each other is the true realism.

There was a slogan from the May Events in Paris in 1968 that has always encouraged me - "Be realistic - demand the impossible"