I get on well with my sister. We speak most days, although I’ve noticed a certain froideur recently. It took me a while to work out what was wrong. The issue, I realised, was my penchant for offending against one of the most bizarre of all middle-class shibboleths. I’ve committed just such an offence twice in the past few days. I’ve walked out of two plays because I hated one and was bored by the other. (I left at the first interval, I should point out; I’m not so uncouth as to leave while it’s going on.)

It did take me a while to realise I could leave these things early, and the middle class guilt that made me stay was pointless

It did take me a while to realise I could leave these things early, and the middle class guilt that made me stay was pointless

It seems to me entirely obvious that if I’m not enjoying something I’ve paid for then I should want to leave. Why persist with something that is meant........

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