Laura Jardine Paterson left Lebanon on a chartered flight for British nationals on October 2.AFP/Getty Images.Laura Jardine Paterson began running a tech company in Lebanon full-time in 2021.But she left on October 2 amid the escalating airstrikes heeding the UK government's calls for nationals to leave.She said tech workers there want to keep working to distract themselves.This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Laura Jardine Paterson, CEO of a web development company operating in Lebanon.