I was feeling mildly miffed about something the other day when I came across the following in a letter to the newspaper from someone called Sierra Hutton-Wilson of Evercreech, Somerset:
'Now that even the banks profess to be "livid", another major step of the Big Society's vision of inclusivity has been achieved. I think we can safely say that, between them, all three major parties have now succeeded in enraging the whole country – universal suffrage has delivered universal suffering.
'Perhaps the quango tasked with measuring our degree of happiness could usefully be redirected to explore the level of fury throughout the land, with a scale of 1 to 10:
1. Faintly Irritated (banks, at having to fork out anything after those payments to Party funds).
2. Rather Cross (rich mothers losing child benefit).
3. Quietly Desperate (pensioners, savers, small businesses).
4. Fit to Bust (anyone dealing with a service provider or government department).
5. Outraged (trades unions and public service workers, charities).
6. Seething (the armed forces).
7. On the Streets (Peaceful) (librarians, ramblers).
8. On the Streets (Smash it Up) (students, anarchists, police).
9. Furious, Terrified, Desperate (everyone not yet mentioned).
10 Apoplectic (universal response to any mention of bank bonuses, bankers excepted).'
I could not find 'mildly miffed' and promptly cheered up.
