Cookies and Crowd Control

Evidently, the young women of Poland are a lot tougher than I thought. From a Washington Post article on Poland's mourning process:

Poland's strong mix of patriotism and grief was on display Sunday for the second day in a row, with a nation united in sorrow and pride mourning the death of President Lech Kaczynski and hailing him as a champion of their national identity... [T]ens of thousands of people, some weeping, lined the streets from the airport and crowded the city center to view Kaczynski's body being returned to the presidential palace, where it will lie pending funeral arrangements.

An elegant esplanade in front of the palace was so jammed that many could not move; police and girl scouts had to lock arms to prevent the crowd from destroying islands of votive lamps that have been flickering green, red and yellow since news of Kaczynski's death in a plane crash broke Saturday morning.