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Eithne Shortall: Let’s all speak up instead of putting up and shutting up

Avoiding confrontation is a national trait, but it’s an exhausting waste of time and energy to be a constant people-pleaser

I had an unsatisfactory visit to the hairdressers but did I complain when I went back? Of course not. Picture: Eclipse

A few weeks ago, I went to the hairdresser’s and handed over a small fortune. I go so rarely – once a year, twice max – that on one trip a hairdresser examined my bird’s nest, caught my eye in the mirror and quietly asked if I’d been sick. This infrequency does at least allow me to justify dropping the big bucks. Only on this annual spendathon, I was unhappy with the outcome.

After a ...