I was away for work. My wife was at home looking after our two boys. I was desperate to see them. 

My return flight was on time. There were no queues at passport control. In fact, I was making such good progress that I arrived at the train station with an hour to spare.  

I could get an earlier train … 

But my ticket was time-stamped. It was valid for the train leaving in an hour, not the one that had pulled up in front of me. 

But I wanted to get home. So, I boarded the early train knowing I risked a fine.  

The ticket inspector came by. ‘Tickets, please,’ she said. 

I showed her my ticket, hoping she wouldn’t notice the time stamp. She did notice. ‘I’m sorry, sir, you’ll have to buy another ticket.’ 

‘How much?’ I said. 

‘Twenty-one pounds,’ she said. 

I did the maths: £21 for an extra hour with my boys after not seeing them for three days. Worth it? 

Hell yeah!