I’m in the habit of keeping a tissue in my pocket. At this time of year, it can be a risk to my dignity.

The tissue is there primarily to clean the nib of my pen. I use a fountain pen. In fact, I use one of three, depending on my mood. And the nature of the writing, and the nature of the paper. I digress. An ink nib needs the occasional clean. Hence the need for a convenient tissue.

All good so far. But, when the season changes from summer, the mornings and evenings rapidly cool such that a chap’s nose can’t keep up and starts dripping a bit. By mid winter, said proboscis is acclimatised and doesn’t bother dripping. But during this current autumnal transition, it gets confused.

You can probably see where this is going. A dripping nose causes an involuntary reach to the nearest tissue. Yes, the same one as used to wipe my pen nib. I enter the coffee shop for an early morning pick-me-up complete with ink spots and smears on my nose. You can guess the rest.