I was waiting the the doctor's surgery with a friend, and ds2 split his lip on the coffee table in the waiting room. I mean he has slit his li right open.
So I went to see the nurses in the minor treatment unit.
"Oh that needs a stitch"
Ok, are you sure? Because it would be lovely if you could treat this here....
"No, it definitely needs a stitch, you have to take him to A & E."
A and E on Thorpe Road?
"No, that's gone, it's closed down. A & E in "
Righto.
So, I called my mum, my dad, my sister, none could take me. So I called a taxi.
£27.50 there. £27.50 back.
To be told by the (very nice!) streaming nurse "Oh no, we don't stitch lips, especially not on children this small because they have to have it done under a general. It will heal on it's own. I will get MacFac to check it though, seeing as you've come 20 miles."
To be told by the nice doctor
"Oh no, we don't stitch lips, especially not on children this small, it's inside anyway and it will heal in 5 days max. Don't give him any crisps. Try not to let him poke it."
And when I got back, £55 down, I realised that no sooner had my Income Support gone in than it was gone.
Don't get me wrong, we aren't going to starve, we will eat as I am an expert at budgetting and I budget for disaster well before disaster strikes, but God I could cry, I could really cry at how quickly money can flow though my fingers despite my best efforts, and how little people can understand about your life that they don't even realise that one phone call could have changed my week.