Beverly W

How is it possible to keep a civil tongue in your head these days?

I'm losing the will to be civil to anyone lately, especially anyone who dares to ask me "can you"? When the question needs to be "should you"? Can I walk to the neighbours house? Today I can, but should I? No, because I'm likely to fall or get stuck coming back.

I'm losing the will to be courteous when the PM argues that mobility aids are one-off costs when I've been waiting on the social housing list to move home and will need to start again with equipment when we do eventually find somewhere else to live assuming that's a 'forever home' or that my health will plateau rather than deteriorate, as I age so no prospect of buying a mobility scooter or power chair to get around on. Never mind that his policies cause unnecessary competition, placing one health condition over another when all conditions are equally debilitating to those claimants.

I'm losing the will to be understanding when the PM argues that it isn't right to pay us an on going amount each year and that NHS crutches are cheaper to buy than the type that grip the ground better, stop me from slipping on wet surfaces, cushion my wrists and hands better from uneven floors or limit my upper body from bearing the brunt of continued force through weight bearing through my arms neck and shoulders.

I'm losing the will to be kind when a 'glorified work coach' rather than a GP tries to encourage me to ignore my limitations needs and disability as though ignoring it will magically make me non disabled and cure my health issues. It doesn't, it only makes us miserable, isolated and worse off.

I'm losing the will to see both sides when statistical bias is presented as facts, to shoe horn people into believing they are not as ill as they think they are. Being taken off long term benefits and declaring people "fit for work" doesn't instantly make them employable again. They still have their limitations and conditions and as such, employers won't touch them with a barge pole. I'm losing the will to see any self worth or value as I'll end up offered the jobs no one else wants to do.

I'm loosing the will to see eye to eye, when told PIP will no longer always be a cash benefit, even though, I for one am totally dependant on these payments to support my living arrangements, or those with limiting conditions are blamed for the tax burden and already live in constant fear, uncomfortable with the hideous and degrading process of claiming the funding they are legally eligible for.

I'm losing the will to see myself as anything other than a pawn in a political game. Maybe I make my own suggestion to boost the economy. Maybe if MP's were to take a pay cut that could help.