A moment that changed me: I was always a pushover – until I stood up to some teenagers

On the eve of my 40th birthday, I was doused with cold water at a train station. Before, I would have shrugged it off. But suddenly I realised it was time to assert myself It was the evening before my 40th birthday – a freezing cold night in March – and I was travelling across London to meet some old school friends for dinner.

As I walked down the stairs into the tube station, I spotted a few teens leaning over the balustrade above me. I thought nothing of it; teens hanging about aimlessly is as classic a combination as Archers and lemonade. That was, until they each threw a few KFC paper cups’ worth of icy water over my head. I noticed it in slow-motion and, at first, kept walking. Then I realised that my hair was wet and so was my…