Laughter is a cure-all when people get on your wick | Verity Lush

Aside from his own face looking like someone had recently slapped it, if I were to traverse the planet beaming from ear to ear at each stranger I should encounter, then I imagine I’d either be hospitalised or restrained before 2020 is out.

Next up is the person outside the childcare that my offspring attend.

I dared to press the buzzer at 7.28am. I know, shock, horror!

No answer came, or at least until one saintly parent declared at large to either themself, or anyone who cared to listen, that they would ‘never press the buzzer before 7.29am because it either won’t be answered or it will only irritate staff’.

Said parent obviously hasn’t cottoned onto how to irritate every other parent in the queue, all of whom have tried their own luck with the buzzer.

As it happens, the time at which staff open the door varies by three minutes, give or take.

And as any parent who is trying to get to work will know, those minutes can make all the difference.

Especially when you are stood waiting in –1C of freezing fog and the difference in question might be that between losing one’s nose or the – infinitely preferable – option of managing to retain one’s facial features when frostbite threatens to set in.

Next on my list is the person who ranted and raved at me through the window of their car.

This was simply because I had the audacity to try and cautiously get across a junction, but stopped as their vehicle approached mine so as to avoid killing them, myself and my family.

The fact that the simple pea-sized headed man – for so it seemed through his driver-side window whilst he raved and gesticulated at me for my sensible precaution of stopping as opposed to crossing through his right of way – looked like an unshaven rodent, only led to mine and my children’s uproarious laughter in his face.

Good luck to Harry and Meg, good riddance to hypocrisy

It will be fascinating to see how the Harry and Meghan saga plays out.

They’ll never be left alone by the press – although they seem to enjoy shedloads of media attention when positive. I suspect it’s more the British public’s annoyance – and airing of said annoyance – that has finished them off.

But unfortunately you cannot get away with lecturing people on how to live, whilst then acting in the precise way you tell everyone else not to.

It was sad to see Harry go but was the only viable option left to the couple. Not because they’ll get more peace elsewhere, but because they’ve marked their own card with months of sanctimonious hypocrisy.

Anxiety is a normal part of life but not if it overwhelms

I attended some mental health training last week as part of a scheme being rolled out in schools.

It’s been incredibly interesting over the past few years to see mental health become so prominent.

This is positive – nobody has perfect mental health all of the time, just as nobody has perfect physical health.

However, the use of the word ‘anxiety’ has certainly caused confusion in some teenagers.

Anxiety is normal and it’s important to make the distinction that it’s healthy to feel anxious, to cope with that, and then to stop feeling anxious. We would have died out when we were Neanderthals, otherwise.

It’s when it overwhelms us we need to be concerned.