[Mb-civic] A Stiff, if Weary, Upper Lip - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Stiff, if Weary, Upper Lip

By Edward Lucas
Friday, July 8, 2005; Page A23

LONDON -- "Something's happened in the city," explained the driver of my 
bus as he pulled up a short way from London's Harrods department store 
at 9:36 yesterday morning. As he waited for further instructions, a 
passenger listening to a radio in her cell phone declared that "there 
are explosions on the Tube; they're blaming them on a power surge." 
"More likely bombs," said another passenger quietly. The bus fell 
silent, and we disembarked and drifted off, some to return home, others 
to make their way to work on foot.

The explosions were indeed bombs, but initially they seemed only 
marginally more alarming than normal life. The sight of a train station 
closed because of a suspect package, or of a street cordoned off around 
a suspicious car, barely arouses interest, let alone fear, in Britain. 
Even as news of decapitated bodies and pictures of blood-soaked victims 
began filling the airwaves, shock and sorrow were mixed with 
determination to keep the proverbial stiff upper lip. The atmosphere in 
the pub next to the Economist's downtown offices yesterday evening was 
resolutely relaxed and cheerful. "The solution's obvious: Round up the 
Frenchies," said one drinker, alluding to French disappointment over 
London's selection to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/07/AR2005070701904.html
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