Amid the horror, more proof of the good in people.
When idiots wielding knives dare to interrupt a Saturday night out, they were forced back by people hurling bottles and glasses and chairs.
When police receive the 999 call they dread, they rushed towards danger and brought the whole awful business to an end within eight minutes.
When a great man like Richard Angell, director of the Progress think tank and frequent Red Box contributor, is forced to leave a restaurant early by the minor inconvenience of a terror attack, he vows to return later to settle his bill.
When Donald Trump fires off fat-thumbed slurs against the mayor of London, aides to Sadiq Khan say he “has more important things to do” than to respond to the tweets of the American President.
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When The New York Times writes that Britain is a nation “reeling”, the country responds with #ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling: post-bank holiday confusion about which day to put the bins out, when Ian put his Baked Alaska in the bin, and choosing the wrong items for a meal deal and having to pay £10 for a bottle of water, a sandwich and a Twix.
When a city like Manchester mourns the loss of young men and women, girls and boys, killed having the time of their lives at a pop concert, they turn out at another concert and sing louder and dance more and spread even more joy.
And on a personal note, when the News Building, home to The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and Sun on Sunday, was put into lockdown by a terrifying attack on our doorstep, my extraordinary colleagues do what they always do: set about producing some of the greatest papers in the world.
Like I said. People in this country are pretty good.
All too soon, Theresa May was back at the Downing Street lectern responding to a fresh act of horror on British streets.
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This time it was different, more political. No longer just the warm words of condolence and harsh words of condemnation, the prime minister acknowledged that the third terror attack in as many months required a new response.
“Enough is enough,” she said, unintentionally creating the impression that the attacks seen before could be in some way tolerated until London Bridge tipped the balance. “Everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would. Our society should continue to function in accordance with our values. But when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change.”
The person who has been in charge of national security for seven years announced a pause in election campaigning, and then used a speech outside No 10 to make what appeared to be a series of highly political pledges on dealing with extremism.
It could include more powers for the police and security services. It could include breaking up segregated communities which foster extremism. It could include locking up suspected terrorists for longer, despite prisons being blamed for radicalising some inmates.
And it could include a crackdown on the internet used to plot atrocities, as if there might be a similar crackdown on notepads and hire vans.
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It is notable that the warning that “we cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are” was not just aimed at tackling tolerance of extremism but also at the intelligence agency’s handling of potential jihadists.
The Times also reports that Amber Rudd, the home secretary, faced resistance from the Ministry of Defence and some in the security and intelligence services over moves to divert more resources to the counter-radicalism programme, Prevent.
Other things are changing too. Two years ago Jeremy Corbyn declared he was “not happy” with a policy of shoot-to-kill for police faced with a marauding terror attack. Last night the Labour leader used a speech to insist he would “take whatever action is necessary and effective to protect the security of our people and our country”.
He also warned policing could not be done “on the cheap”, accusing Mrs May of ignoring repeated warnings that cutting police numbers by 20,000 would hamper the counterterror capability.
In her speech, Mrs May said it was time for some unspecified “embarrassing conversations”. Mr Corbyn had a suggestion of where to start: “Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that have funded and fuelled extremist ideology.”
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Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, writes in The Guardian calling for the PM to publish a report into the alleged Saudi funding of extremist groups in the UK. It was commissioned by David Cameron to secure the support of the Lib Dems for airstrikes against Isis in Syria, but has not been made public.
If any good comes out of these awful, awful events, please let it be that the people pitching to lead this extraordinary country stop making up things about each other and use the next three days to set out how they might keep us safe.
At times like this the country speaks of defiance, reliance, of not letting “them” win. For many the ultimate expression of this sentiment will be picking up a pencil and putting a cross in a box on Thursday.
This woeful, unwanted election campaign has done little to inspire confidence. There is still time.