As we walked across the tarmac and into the terminal I saw a couple about to board their flight. At least in his sixties, he wore a brown leather hat pulled down over stringy hair dyed blue black, his face obscured by sunglasses. His companion was a blonde woman in her forties. All the signs were that this was a once-famous pop star and his girlfriend about to take to their private jet.

Only one of my own friends had ever travelled in such style. In recent years HJ had become friendly with the members of 1970s progressive rock band Yes. As a special treat, she was sometimes invited aboard their private jet. All that was expected in return was that she would tweet their news.