‘These boots are not fit for purpose and I’d like a refund’ When I was younger, I used to look forward to being confident enough to speak up in any situation. And yet, when I reached adulthood, with a demanding full-time job, and by my mid-thirties, a mother of three, I still frustratingly reverted to being a tongue-tied teenager in times of stress.
Take, for example, the new neighbour I’d regularly see in the street. Although we’d always say hi, and she had introduced herself, her name had promptly fallen right out of my head. ‘Hi, Fiona,’ she’d say cheerfully. ‘Hi,’ I’d reply, aware of an embarrassing void where her name should have been.
As time went on, this became even more awkward. ‘Just follow her up the street,’ my…
