By Alec Hogg
Among my most memorable assignments as a young reporter was attending an International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Toronto. That September was the first and only time I’ve visited Canada’s largest city with its amazingly friendly and outgoing inhabitants.
Our new friends there explained that Canadians go over the top in summer to compensate for their hibernation during long cold winters. I’m witnessing the same thing right now in London where the sunshine has transformed conservative salary slaves into an epidemic of broad smilers wearing shorts and skirts.
The influence of good weather on homo sapiens is often under-estimated. Take Johannesburgers, which with its spectacularly temperate and sunny climate is well known internationally for its friendly locals. Except when it comes to taxi drivers, but that’s a whole other story…
*The EWC debate is in focus in the UK next Thursday when I host the IRR’s expert on the subject, Terence Corrigan, at our Biznews London Forum. If you’re in the city on July 5th or want to treat family or friends who live in London, book your seat by clicking here.
