midday
Sentimentally , the men Thompson knew were pro-Ally . Only , in practice there was no apparent reason why they should do otherwise than as they had been doing . And in effect San Francisco only emulated her sister cities when she proceeded about `` business as usual '' -- just as in those early days , before the war had bitten deep into their flesh and blood , British merchants flung that slogan in the face of the enemy . So that to Wes Thompson , concentrated upon his personal affairs , the war never became more than something akin to a bad dream recalled at midday , an unreal sort of thing . Something that indubitably existed without making half the impression upon him that seeing a pedestrian mangled under a street car made upon him during that summer . The war aroused his interest , but left his emotions unstirred . There was nothing martial about him .