It’s funny isn’t it, who and what we turn to when we feel at our lowest ebb. This week, after spending 20 minutes trawling through comments left on our website referring to one particular story – an article about a £1,860 away day for city council staff – I genuinely felt dismayed and depressed.

Not by the story itself, you understand, but by some of the so-called ‘opinions’ expressed.

And in fairness, this sense of despondency has been building up in me for quite a while; this story just happened to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Obviously, I’m all for people having – and expressing – their points of view. Hell, I do it loudly on a minute-by-minute basis. But more often than ever now, it seems people need to express their differences via seemingly spiteful accusations.

It’s not enough any more to simply say ‘I disagree’ and move on; today it appears you have to patronise and insult. And I just don’t ‘get that’.

Indeed, comments left both on our and other media websites have become so venomous, so toxic, that I’ve actually found myself wondering if I should relocate to the Yukon or Patagonia and join a post-apocalyptic survival course.

Which is where my very own, intensely personal ‘spirit guide’ comes into play. It’s not a religious icon nor some historical figure of global significance. That’d be too grand and serious for me.

Instead I turn to who I always turn to when I feel in need of a spiritual lift. And strangely, this ‘life lesson’ in particular – “a double cappuccino please – half-caf, non-fat milk, with just enough foam to be aesthetically pleasing but not so much that it leaves a moustache...”

Ahhh, Niles Crane, brother of Dr Frasier Crane, from the TV series Frasier, who has singlehandely guided and comforted me through these past 15 years with his pithy observations and simple home-spun homilies.

For those who have never seen the show, I apologise. And for those who have, and didn’t like it, I don’t.

Suffice to say, like Leslie Nielsen in Airplane!, he makes me laugh. Out loud. With a gallon or two of endorphins thrown in for good measure.

In fact, I just have to think of a Niles Crane line and immediately all stresses, worries and anxieties slip away.

So for no particular reason, here is my other favourite line.

It may not mean anything to you (why should it?); I’m not even sure if I know why it’s funny, but just typing it out has, incredibly, induced a huge, stupid grin:

FRASIER: If you were stranded on an island, what would you choose as your favorite meal, aria and wine?

NILES: The Coulibiac of Salmon at Guy Savoy. Vissa d’arte from Tosca, and the Cotes du Rhone, Chateau Neuf du Pape, ’47

FRASIER: You’re so predictable...

Sorry, but I needed that...