While you were fretting about the crisis in Greece (dubbed “Acropolis Now” by the Toronto Globe and Mail)…..
Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport, Sunday afternoon. Crowds milling about, every seat in the departure “lounge” taken. Queues to buy fancily-priced wraps from Pret a Manger. A woman with a Mulberry necklace and a Prada bag, pecking out messages on her I-Phone.
The BA flight to Milan, packed to the gunwales with Italians heading home after a weekend break in London and Brits fleeing south to the Lakes.
The autostrada out of Malpensa, clogged with Milanesi heading home for the start of the new work week.
The car parks along Lake Maggiore, filled with cars from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia alongside those of the Italians. The VW Tiguan seems like a popular choice, though there‘s also a four-door Porsche with an elegant fiordilatte paint job.
The crowded restaurants in the main piazza, filled with the families from all those Tiguans, plus Brits, Americans, Aussies, Israelis, even a group of Barbadians.
Sure, it‘s all anecdotal. But the story is an important one. People are still going about their business, still spending money, ignoring the torrent of doom and gloom from the world’s media. If they ever start taking notice of it, we really are in trouble.
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