Happiest of all, in the French film manner, are the police, who stand at street intersections with their thumbs in their belts and beam paternally at everybody instead of looking stern and important, as they used to.

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Through a darkened archway flanked by stern looking security personnel are three 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans.

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Bishop Loughlin High was run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, stern-looking men in black robes.

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So we collected all the required documents and gave them to a stern-looking middle-aged woman at the office.

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At the Selimiye Mosque, a stern-looking young man with a black beard who identified himself as the imam met us at the entrance and invited us inside.

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The crowd resembled a cross between a sporting event and a political rally, complete with dozens of stern-looking security personnel with ear pieces and pins in their lapels.

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Tut-tutting, my dream-self collects the discarded jewels and then walks around aimlessly looking for Mom so I can both read her a stern lecture and return them to her.

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