Yes, I know...

"Good morning London, it's 7.25 on Blue Monday and you're listening to Capital". My contact lenses were not going in, my chin was bleeding and the DJ seemed to be taunting me. "Scientists have calculated that Monday 24th January is the most depressing day of 2005." They've got an equation and everything. "G represents the co-efficient of gloom, T the average temperature and E is the amount of money people haven't got. Welcome to the world of pop science. Someone works out an equation like this every couple of weeks. It makes good copy.

Despite this, I was in good spirits. I couldn't see properly, but it was my first commute to work from the new place. And it started easily.

As the train pulled up on time, I sat opposite two fairly relaxed looking businessmen. "Well" said one of them, "they say today's the most depressing day of the year." I huddled beneath my jacket. "It's because of pay day and the weather, some guy sat down and worked it out." I checked my busy schedule for the day, straightened my collar and flattened my hair.

I maintained an aura of invulnerability walking down Borehamwood High Street. I breathed the cold air deeply and walked with a purpose. The person next to me talked into his mobile phone. The person in front of me dropped to the ground and hit his head hard.

Blood was coming out of his mouth and there didn't seem to be anyone behind his open blue eyes. One person called an ambulance whilst two of us debated the merits of the recovery position against the close aproximation to the recovery position the poor guy had landed in. He seemed to breathing OK, and we stood over him and panicked, and he came to just as the ambulance and a police car mounted the pavement directly in front of him, sirens screaming. There was a lot of fear in his eyes.

I hung around, wondering how long was a decent interval to let the professionals get on with it. As they loaded him into the ambulance, I passed the two police officers sitting in the car with a flask of tea.
"...it's the time of year, someone's worked it..."

I walked into the office in search of coffee and cigarettes. Five minutes later I was in the warm recounting the story and starting to get freaked out. My colleague listened sympathetically and put her arm around me.

"They do say today's going to be the most depressing of the year."

"Yeah", I replied. "Apparently someone's worked it out."