Weep, O mine eyes at a lack of manly tears

An excellent article by Adrian Chiles (Have you cried with despair in public? There is nothing braver or better, 28 July). In medieval France, it was considered very manly to weep copiously about one’s fallen comrades. If you didn’t cry, what was wrong with you? Didn’t you care? Crying is an effective and natural way of releasing tension.Juliet ChaplinCheam, London

• In 1999, the UK was ranked second (to the US) in preparedness to deal with a pandemic. Now I read that the UK is on a list of places most resilient to a collapse of global society (Report, 28 July). Time to head for the hills.Jim GolcherGreens Norton, Northamptonshire

• Perhaps I’m proving Jenny Welsh right (Letters, 27 July), but I’m not disputing the quick crossword answer.

Supper is unarguably an evening meal. If the answer had been “dinner”, there would have been grounds for debate.Frances WilsonOld Leake, Lincoln

shire • In the past, the Guardian has published an alternative Olympics table, showing medals per capita for each country, which suggests a different notion of “success”. With the triathlon gold medal won by Flora Duffy of Bermuda (population 63,918), do we already know the winner of this year’s table?Graham HeadLondon

• A former colleague, Sam Wisniewski, when asked to spell his name, took great delight in replying: “S, A, M, and Wisniewski is just as it sounds” (Letters, 28 July).Helen SwannGlasgow

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