Reputations are tested, not when things are going well, but rather in the midst of a crisis, with all its drama and pressure.
Brazilians aren't gathering in the streets to protest one of the world's most popular sporting event itself, but are rather in the midst of a longstanding fight against the Brazilian government, which they believe has failed to deliver on promises to the people.
This was subtle and rather moralistic — in the midst of life we are in whacking — but also rather fatalistic: in the midst of life we might well be in the midst of getting whacked, and we won't know either way until it's too late to do anything about it.
Restructuring would have been better conducted years ago, rather than in the midst of the current crisis.
Both do so adeptly (and are essentially good in a crisis) but miss out on the chance to put them forward on their own terms, rather than in the midst of a media frenzy.
There was little to interest gossip columnists or to shock the public and, at least on the surface she seemed rather serene in the midst of such a frantic profession.
Camp David has many tangled strands: years spent in the demi-monde of showbiz, Walliams's lifelong and apparently futile pursuit of his father's approval, the fact that he can evidently not quite believe he's famous, and attempts to kill himself that sit rather awkwardly in the midst of anecdotes that are sometimes smug and twee, and sometimes uproariously great.
In the end, the public image that seemed rather staid in the midst of the swinging 60s – he took a portable record player to the 1968 European Championship along with a copy of Engelbert Humperdinck's latest album, which he played, according to his room-mate, Alan Mullery, "morning, noon and night" – may have been no less real than the heavy-drinking prankster familiar to his team-mates.
In light of these historical precedents, hospitals may want to inform prospective staff members of what is expected in crisis situations before, rather than in the midst of, an emergency.
Rather, we're in the midst of a two-decade period without universally agreed-upon names: the naughts, aughts, zeros, oh-ohs, or 2000s; tens, tweens and teens.
The south cannot brag that much of its best was produced in a golden age for all – but rather despite it, in the midst of hell.
