My boss’s daughter (age 8 or so) stopped at my desk to say hello. I asked if the taller quiet girl behind her was her friend.

“I’m from London,” the girl said. “My dad used to work here.”

Her voice reminded me of boating on the Thames, cool, quiet cloisters at Oxford, tea in the drawing room, and a walk through the shrubbery, even though I’ve never been there and even though, perhaps, “there” isn’t even there anymore.

People from England have no idea how cool they sound.

Except, my co-workers tell me, young, single Englishmen, who quickly discover the “Austin Powers Effect” once they arrive in America.