Then again, neither was becoming quietly thrilled when an elderly gentleman on the Tube stood up and offered me his seat.

I smiled, thanked him and politely declined, but I couldn’t resist a private chuckle as the train pulled away. It wasn’t vanity or triumph that made me smile. It was simply the quiet satisfaction of knowing that, for one completely ordinary journey, I had been seen exactly as I hoped to be.

Not a bad day’s work.