The humourless Brits led by the Guardian newspaper continue to claim that the Vancouver Olympics are a disaster, perhaps their motives are to direct attention away from the pending disaster of London 2012, perhaps it's because they are too uptight to 'get' the way the Olympics are unfolding in Vancouver - namely spontaneous fun and celebration everywhere you look.
For example late Saturday night on a jam packed bus heading out from Whistler Village to the residential areas of Whistler, a Quebecois (she drove here all the way from Quebec City) bus driver kept the passengers laughing and cheering as she navigated the many speed bumps along the way. That is all the passengers except for two scowling Brits at the back (die hard Guardian readers no doubt).
Or Sunday afternoon on the Seabus heading into downtown Vancouver, when halfway across Burrard Inlet a man who had just received a text message, announced in heavily accented English that he needed everyone's attention so he could tell us that 'they' had just won gold in speed skating, we didn't know who 'they' were but just the same he was greeted with enthusiastic applause and cheers. He then added, "and Canada won silver," which of course brought more cheers and applause.
Scenes like those play out thousands of times a day during the Vancouver Olympics and they are why, despite the glitches, organizers claim these Games as the best ever.
Now that boast is admittedly a bit of a whopper - but such is the excitement in the air in Vancouver these days that it lends itself to such claims and it is why people continue to flock to downtown Vancouver even though it may take hours waiting in line for the Skytrain to do so, everyone wants to get in on the feeling.
Oh yes, except for the Brits, who are usually spotted sipping tea at the Hotel Vancouver and sniffing that, 'all these shenanigans just aren't on.'
We can hardly wait for the 2012 Games where excitement will be dutifully curtailed in the name of decorum and silence will be demanded on all public transit. In the meantime enjoy Vancouver's spirit while you can.
