"It's easy to say that I won't tolerate it, but what can I do?"
Suddenly she felt alone, helpless, completely abandoned. She slowly took the morning newspaper to read, not for the first time, an advertisement on the front page. "Outrageous!" said Mrs. Packington. "Completely outrageous." And then: "After all, though, I could just take a look..."
Which explains why at eleven o'clock Mrs. Packington was entering, a little nervous, the office of Mr. Parker Pine. As we said, Mrs. Packington was nervous, but for some reason the sight of Mr. Parker Pine alone reassured her. He was large, perhaps even stout. He had a bald head of respectable size, wore glasses with thick lenses, and there was a cheerful sparkle in his eyes.
"Please, sit down," he said. "Did you come for the advertisement?" he asked to make it easier for her. "Yes," Mrs. Packington replied, and stopped there. "And you're not happy," Mr. Parker Pine said in a cheerful, practical tone. "Few are. You'd be surprised how few people are happy." "Really?" said Mrs. Packington, although it didn't matter whether others were happy or not.
"I know, you don't care about that," said Mr. Parker Pine, "but it's very interesting to me. You see, for thirty-five years I worked gathering statistics in a government agency. Now I'm retired and thought to use the experience I gained in a new way. It's very simple. Unhappiness always falls into five possible categories – I assure you, no more. Once you identify the cause of the problem, the solution is not impossible."
