Since the tourists were scared off, the food shortages, traffic and chaos failed to materialize. A lot of Cornish people lost money. Campsites that had been prepared to host thousands stayed empty. Eclipse glasses lay unsold.
And perhaps most tragic, all but the lucky few missed the chance of a lifetime. If I didn't have to be in London on Wednesday for work, nothing would have kept me from Cornwall, not even the warnings. To experience a natural phenomenon with a crowd of other humans, to realize how small we are and to have our world changed by the shadow of a heavenly body, would have made it worthwhile.
Barbara E. Martinez '00 is an executive editor of The Crimson. This summer, she is an intern in the Associated Press London Bureau.