I lost my hairbrush to the roving blackhole in my bedroom. This was an emergency. I immediately left the house for Boots, a store I mentioned a few months ago. I wanted to earn some loyalty points.

With my hair forming a halo around my face, I picked out a nice black comb for about £3. Near the check-out, I spotted some Christmas wrapping paper. I pulled out a gold foil roll with a red berry pattern. For about two minutes, I stood there contemplating my choices.

“Hello, Joan.” Suddenly, Owen was also standing in front of the wrapping paper display.

“I lost my hairbrush,” I said by way of explanation. “So I haven’t brushed my hair today.”

“This hair also hasn’t been brushed.” Owen gestured to his short hair, which, I’d guess, would never need to be brushed. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m trying to look for wrapping paper that isn’t so Christmassy. I think this is the closest I can get.” I showed him the gold-and-red-berry combination, and a silver roll with white swirly patterns.

He glanced at the rolls. “Still looks pretty Christmassy to me,” he said, dashing my hopes. “You won’t find anything but Christmas paper here at this time of year.”

I was crushed. “I do have a few Christams presents that need to be wrapped but that won’t use up the whole roll. I wanted to save it for presents later on.”

“Ah, I see. Very cheap of you.” Before I could decide whether or not this was an insult, Owen added, “Or very sustainable.”

I knew only one response to this. “I love it when economics and sustainability coincide!”