CLODAGH FINN: Time to quit frummaging and offer a helping hand

Seasonal goodwill, my eye. The woman on the bus has placed, nay barricaded, her suitcase into the seat beside her and is looking ahead with a dead, glassy stare in the hope of putting off potential neighbours.

To be honest, part of me admires her. There’s only so much festive spirit to go around and much of it has been spent. We are already in the sixth day of Twixmas, that strange limbo between Christmas and New Year, and travelling has its challenges, chief among them the need for some quiet downtime versus the simple need to sit down.

If you’re early, you claim the double-seat; if not, you try to remain civil while addressing the suitcase and asking with strained politeness: “Is anybody sitting here?” What follows is an awkward two-minute shuffle as the barricade comes down and the intruder settles into the freed-up space.