HAPPINESS. It’s not for everyone, you know?

Maybe it’s the nature of the job I’m in, but it seems nobody is allowed to just enjoy themselves anymore, without people taking pot shots and raining on their - sometimes literal - parade.

Case in point, the recent arrival of the Tour de Yorkshire through the county.

Seen by hundreds of thousands of people along the route - topping a million, according to some estimates - and millions more on television screens in 180 countries around the world, the event showed off some of the very best elements of the region.

There was the incredible scenery, the artistic talent, and the enthusiasm of people of all ages - as well as the world-class cyclists visiting the North.

You might think that drawing thousands of people to towns and villages around the region, to spend money in local communities and - if nothing else - find out a bit more about their local environment and enjoy a massive sporting spectacle absolutely free of charge, would be something that everyone could get behind.

In Tadcaster in particular - where I spent Saturday reporting live from the start of the women’s and men’s races on day two of the tour - shopkeepers and residents told me they were pleased to see their town on the news in a positive light, rather than focusing on the destruction of the bridge and lengthy repair period.

Now, I’m not a cycling fan. A quick look at my waistline will make it very clear I’m not even a sports fan. But even I was impressed by the whole event - not just the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it passing of the riders, but the spirit of the day.

Seeing whole families milling around the team buses, watching beaming kids hand flyers to their favourite riders to sign, while technicians prepared bikes probably worth more than I earn in a year (that might not even be used in the race), there was a sense of awe and delight that’s difficult to describe but easy to get caught up in.

Of course, that’s the problem. It doesn’t matter how many pictures you share, quotes you gather, or blog posts you post, some people are just determined not to enjoy themselves. Worse still, they’ll go out of their way to criticise those who are.

York Press:

For every comment on the stories welcoming the Tour, there were probably two or three complaining about being held hostage by crowds or road closures, or even more criticising the tongue-in-cheek use of French terms for Yorkshire landmarks.

Yes, you’re quite right, Garrowby Hill isn’t on the coast. But is it really worth five minutes of anyone’s life to write a comment - or even a letter of complaint - about what was a deliberate decision by the organisers to celebrate the event’s Tour de France roots?

What harm is there in getting into the spirit of the event? Surely one could overlook the misuse of French grammar in the grand scheme of things?

I mean, it’s not the sort of thing that people can get that wound up about, surely?

Others said they felt like going out and throwing drawing pins into the road ahead of the cyclists, so infuriated were they by the audacity of the multimillion pound sporting entertainment event interrupting their weekend’s viewing of repeats of Minder, Ironside and The Sweeney on ITV4.

But you know what? Even if they’d crawled out of their armchairs and sabotaged the race, the cyclists would have climbed back on to their bikes and finished the race. What’s more, I’d wager good money that nearby spectators would have wrestled them to the ground until security arrived to deal with them.

Because however determined you might be to dislike something, some people will be more determined than you to let some joy into their lives, and however happy you feel complaining about something, I’m pretty sure they’ll feel better than you do in enjoying the big picture.