Not far away, three people in reflective vests were standing around one of the boxes talking and pointing. He walked right up to them. Probably because of the suit and the lanyard, they stopped talking and looked at him. They were sipping coffee from go cups, in the manner of persons who had only just now showed up for work. "What is all this stuff and why is it here?" Willem asked. Anywhere else this might have come across as gruff, but it was how Dutch people communicated.