What horrible attitudes on this thread.
It’s almost as if some people are positively gleeful at the thought of people on benefits and/or in council properties still struggling years from now while they sit smugly on their ‘hard-earned’ assets, enjoying an early inheritance from their parents so they can benefit from free care in their old age (oh the irony).
I’m on disability benefits. To look at me you would never guess. I am not the unpleasant, stereotypical image of one that is peddled by the media, and the likes of some on this thread. I’m intelligent, clean, well-spoken and articulate. I’m kind and generous to others. I don’t talk about my past unless I’m asked about it. I don’t do drugs. I rarely drink.
I also have a ‘friend’ like the OP, pissed off that she apparently has nothing handed to her, unlike me.
Actually, she’s had a whole lot handed to her. She’s been handed a great deal of cards. She has a very supportive family who help her with a range of practical support, and an early inheritance on the way from the sale of the house. She can live with her mum rent free if she chooses, and has done previously. She will never have to worry about being homeless or without support. All of these things have set her up for success and security, and not one of them was ‘hard-earned’.
I, on the other hand, grew up being abused. My dad died when I was young. My mother was absent and neglectful. Extended family didn’t want anything to do with me. I ended up in care. There was and is no support, there will never be any family money. I have been technically homeless. I have a chronic illness and have had to attend every hospital appointment alone. If I have a general anaesthetic I have to ask a friend to pick me up and lie to the doctors that there will be someone with me during my recovery, because I can’t put that on my friends. If I’m ill I can’t call my mum and ask her to help. I have always had to do everything myself. And it’s hard. I have fought so hard and I’m still fighting, to get my degree and to build up to working full time because I don’t want to be on benefits forever. I volunteer twice a week to try to contribute to society as much as I can.
I hope the spiteful, disgruntled posters enjoyed reading that, I hope they got some smug satisfaction from the idea that in a few years’ time they’ll be flying and I’ll no doubt still be struggling, despite trying my best. But none of it matters because I’m just a feckless benefit claimant who gets handouts from the government whose life is worth nothing.
Always remember there is an actual person, and a story, behind every ‘benefit claimant’. And never forget what was handed to you.