At dinnertime I'm scooting round Boots, desperately trying to find tampons and beginning to wonder whether they actually sell them.

As I whizz past the No7 counter there is a child in a pushchair screaming at the most incredible volume and pitch. Nails down a blackboard don't compare.

I scowl at the child and carry on with my mission: rushing up and down the aisles hoping tampons will miraculously appear. At last I see a woman who works there who informs me they are in the far corner, hidden with tissues and tights as it turns out.

Next... standing in the queue, which of course snakes back to the brink of eternity, but I'm nearly there now so chin up and forward.

I realise the woman in front of me is buying hair nit lotion.

I learn back.

Behind me? yes, along comes mother wheeling the still screaming child.

Sometimes your sanity can hang from a thread. Ever noticed?