To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

[OptimismvsRealism]

God it's expensive God it's shit

Please regale me with examples of how other places are also shit and it's not just here

They were complaints of rowdy teenagers in the 50's and 60's.

Tried the pharmacy. They can’t prescribe antibiotics.

Isn't pickpocketing not a major problem there?

The difference between the 50s and 60s and today was that there was much less use of illegal drugs. I grew up in a town in Lincolnshire, a teenager from the mid 60s. I used to go to youth clubs, dances, pubs and only came across cannabis a couple of times, at house parties. Nothing else. I would have been a prime target for dealers, but was never approached. The failure to get to grips with drug dealing has been a major factor in the decline of our society, and in the increase in mental health problems. I moved to London when I was 18 for work, and then started to see signs of drug abuse, was still rarely offered anything, even though we frequented clubs and pubs which would be prime targets today. Yes, we had Rowdy teenagers, we had Mods and Rockers, then Skinheads, in fact my BF had a motorbike and I had a skinhead haircut, and a lot of the trouble was inflamed by drink, but drugs were no where near as easy to find as they are today. We have been failed by politicians of all parties. None of them have got a grip on drug abuse, and we are seeing the consequences all around us.

I agree on that. I have actually had to mention recently how much the drug abuse has increased and we aren't in a nice area anyway.

This isn’t true. We were just in France. Food more expensive and petrol etc.

No I have quite a nice life thanks and don’t need a lot to enjoy life-that doesn’t mean this country isn’t shyte. It is.

I was with you until this comment. Now I’m not bothering to read any further

Because you can't afford to go anywhere else.

I posted 'some of the comments' - not everything is about you

I lived in Hong Kong for a while and loved it, but as with anywhere it has its problems. You need to be wealthy there to have a good lifestyle- the cost of housing is astronomical. Like GPB5k a month for a moderate apartment (no garden). A lot of the locals pack generations into one small apartment.

There is pretty much no benefits safety net, you see elderly people collecting cardboard on the streets for money or still working in very menial jobs just to survive. There is a free public health service but it would really only cover emergencies - you would not for example, get a hip replacement on public health. Mental health services are really none existent unless you pay privately.

Public transport is very cheap and reliable. Traffic is a nightmare as is road etiquette. People do not give way for emergency services. Eating out - if you eat local is very cheap and good but western dining is same price if not more expensive. Supermarkets are a lot more expensive and the quality of fresh food is quite poor (or if not it is very expensive). The range and reliability of stock is haphazard. It made me appreciate the likes of Tesco enormously.

Loss of freedom is a major thing - national security laws mean the government and police have total power - if you challenge them in any meaningful way you would be severely punished. Public protest is a thing of the past.

The weather in some ways is better - autumn and early winter is lovely (like a good British summer) and it rarely gets colder than 10 degrees but summer is long, brutally hot and humid and it often rains for days and days on end. Biblical rain.

You have to take the good with the bad. No where is perfect.

The number of flights taking off each week suggests many people can. There will always be different levels of the haves and have nots in life. That’s the way it is.

I live in Spain and it can be shit as well and isn’t the utopia of sun, sand and sangria that everyone thinks. Examples are salaries are really low compared to many other European countries, but food costs, bills and even rents now are rising so much that many people live on the breadline or under, benefits are nothing like as generous as the U.K., so a lot of people aren’t getting the help they need. Another example - racism and xenophobia here is rife and accepted more than in the U.K. Treatment of animals and attitudes towards animals is pretty bad. Access to HRT is virtually impossible and they are working on outdated studies on this. Mental health treatment and access to help for children and teens with ADHD is way behind other countries. The political situation is shit and nobody is ever happy with who is in government. The school system is old fashioned and the children are under too pressure with constant exams. It’s difficult to get a job in your chosen field unless you live in a large city. The bureaucracy is crazy here and it’s long winded, stressful and difficult to get anything done. Also, it’s hot as the fires of hell in the summer!

These are the things that aren’t good, there are of course other things that are. Having lived in both countries the same is true of the U.K. too. I appreciate things about the U.K. that I didn’t since seeing how they don’t work well here and vice versa about Spain.

Then the best thing these people could do for themselves and their mental wellbeing is acknowledge that their lives wouldn’t be all that great anywhere else, either, and it’s little to do with being in the U.K. People with low incomes who can’t afford much choice struggle everywhere. Does anyone really think that checkout workers and cleaners in Portugal or Hong Kong or Canada or New Zealand live in luxury and think they’re dwelling in lands of endless opportunity?

@ComtesseDeSpair and that reminds me of the quote 'Wherever you go, there you are'. Meaning you can travel to the ends of the earth but you are still the same person, your life won't magically transform because you have moved abroad.

I think the secret to life is to really try to respond to each moment as though you had chosen it. I have been in parts of the Philippines where people are living in absolute poverty, literally hand to mouth yet they seem happy and content with life. Then you seem multi millionaires (for example, Liam Payne) who can literally live anywhere they want in absolute luxury - yet are in the depths of despair.

I would also say the quality of televised sport in the UK is exceptional - true you have to pay for a lot of it (Sky etc.) but the English Premier League is world class, Wimbledon, Rugby etc.. The coverage of major sporting events is really good - like the BBC wall to wall coverage of the Olympics. TV is generally exceptional compared to most other countries. A small thing but I appreciate it.

Totally. You can see it in every aspect of life now in the UK too.

Yes that is a really good point. I often think that making more medication OTC would help with the pressures on GPs, but we actually already have a fairly liberal regime in the UK.

I remember being in Copenhagen when my DH had a stomach problem and there wasn't much that the pharmacists could recommend. Fortunately it sorted itself out without him having to find a doctor.

It‘s not shit for those who managed to get on the property ladder years ago, had a free education, don‘t have to pay for childcare, don‘t need to pay for travel and those who have a decent income. For everyone else it can be pretty shit.

yes can be, its mentioned in my post. we are about 30 mins outside the centre, its totally safe.

@sharpclawedkitten I couldn't believe it when looking for pain killers that it came down to non branded Ibruprofen, paracetamol or codeine. Now I do kind of appreciate it's all the same thing essentially but whether it's psychological or not just not being able to buy stuff like lemsip or gaviscon etc off the shelf was blinking annoying. Sweden wasn't much better either.

Agreed. I’ve had amazing experiences of the NHS over the years but also absolutely terrible ones. Last time I went to A&E with my child for a pulled elbow, we had to wade through drunkards laying on the floor of the main entrance completely out of it with sick bowls beside them. I then witnessed a mum tripping over a sick bowl and falling in the vomit. It was honestly like a third world country. Also took them 5 hours to see my DS so they could twist his arm back into place which was a two minute job.

The education sector is completely fucked, particularly from secondary level up. Some schools are so short of teachers, they’re having to put three different classes into the school gym and have one supply teacher them all different lessons simultaneously. Not even kidding, this is in Yorkshire. I’m a HE lecturer, don't even get me started on the state of the HE sector right now.

Then there’s the fact no one has a dentist and thousands of kids are in hospital having teeth pulled as a result. Mental.

Oh and public transport is appalling outside of London. It costs a fortune and they’re always overcrowded and never on time.

Try £250 per month council tax

There is a local property tax in Ireland. Depending on your local authority, and how much your house is worth. What used to be rates, I suppose. You have to pay it for the year in advance. I pay nearly 465 Euro on an annual basis, and get absolutely nothing at all in return for it. Nothing whatsoever.

There are no council bin collections near the house. There is a private company which is erratic, for E22 per month for ordinary and recycling . The house is in the country and was newly built, so we had to pay to connect to electricity poles, and we had to dig to create our own water supply, and maintain it at our own cost. Library 7km away, and you have to pay anyway. The road is paved, but no footpaths and the road/ motor tax is for that anyway. No street lights. So, nada.