Melissa Kite Melissa Kite

Real life | 5 January 2017

Its operatives will be in the grip New Year brain fog, which could have disastrous consequences

issue 07 January 2017

The most annoying thing about starting a new year is how long it takes for everyone to crank themselves back into action.

I knew I wasn’t getting the real picture when I rang the taxman to say I would like to pay in instalments, and the chap on the other end of the line yawned and said: ‘Well, if you want to.’

‘I’m not sure I want to,’ I said. ‘But I’m fairly sure I will have to. I mean, if I can’t pay it all in one lump sum before the deadline, I had better set up some kind of direct debit quickly, hadn’t I?’

He sighed heavily. ‘Mmm. You could do.’

There was a long silence so I said: ‘Shall we do that now?’

‘To be honest,’ he said, ‘I should just give it a while and see how you go.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, see how you go.

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