This includes nurses and ambulance staff south of the border, as well as teachers and railway workers across the UK, with firefighters also considering industrial action.

Quiet quitting is over. We are in the age of direct action with you, dear reader, or someone you know almost certainly going on strike.

As a result, you’re also incredibly likely to have heard idiotic takes from pundits saying how awful strikes are. How dare they, they’re going to ruin Christmas.

RMT Union members stage an industrial protest. Picture: John Devlin

These charlatans whining about strikes are among the same who tell young people to shut up about owning property and to show some blitz spirit.

They are also likely the same people who criticised refuse workers striking during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, somehow missing the fact the timing amplifies the action’s power, raising awareness with more people impacted.

Now I know it's awful being inconvenienced. I, for one, abhor slow walkers and think someone sitting next to me on the train should be illegal.

But they are just inconveniences and it’s the same for strikes. Unlike a dog, a strike is just for Christmas, but poor conditions last much longer.

Inflation is soaring, but pay is not. We all have the same amount of money, but it has less value and it isn’t fair, so people are asking for more.

It isn’t selfish to want better for yourself and your family. That is supposed to be a Conservative ideal, but instead workers are looked at like Oliver Twist asking for more.

This comes at a time where it’s controversial to want a tax on the £170 billion energy company profits, so that’s where the discourse is, and it is absurd.

UK strikes: If you think strikes are irritating, try poor pay and working conditions - Alexander Brown