BENEFITS hmmmm

[Margaret Pilkington]

No, I haven't said that.
But it is strange when those on benefits can have children , when those who are in work have to stop and consider whether they can actually afford to have another child.
It is also strange to see folk who I know to be on benefits in Costa coffee having breakfast.
This isn't to say they are not entitled to spend their money on what they want, but if they were in such dire financial straits, that seems to be a bit extravagant.

I know that taxes pay for lots of things(like the salaries of those who run this county)...... Those who are working pay taxes..... Usually through PAYE......but those on benefits do not.
So those who are not working are being funded by those who are, and are paying tax......I pay tax on my pension, throughout my working life I contributed to the wealth and fabric of this country. Those who could work but don't( because they can get more on benefits than they can by working) contribute nothing.....they just subtract.....from society, from their self worth, and this is what is wrong.
Benefits should never be worth more than a wage, and living on benefits should never be a lifestyle choice.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I'm sorry that you consider my post has too many long words.
I wrote it in my usual language.....to illustrate my opinions.
I will, in future try to use Sun language....short words short sentences......those aimed at people with lesser language skills(and this is not calculated to offend those who read The Sun).

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

TMLW-too many long words

Which long words didn't you understand?
I can arrange classes to enlighten you

[Accyexplorer]

Originally Posted by Less

Is there a point to putting an abbreviation and explaining it in the same sentence? (unless of course you were asked to explain it), surely it's a bigger sin than Margaret's use of so called long words in a post that made far more common sense with everyday terms than has so far resulted from this thread.

No,that was one from my pointless selection

[Less]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

No,that was one from my pointless selection

Congratulations, you have stayed with the theme you started in your first post.

Why, oh, why, ask important questions then complain because you don't understand the answer or the language it is submitted in?

Now, if Margaret doesn't mind, I'll get back to reading my back issues of the Sun, there is an important article on page 3 in one of them where Janice (age 19 from Blackburn) tells us of the benefits of having silicone implants inserted by the NHS.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Less, go right ahead......I know from your responses that my posts are understood by you....and that your motive for reading the Sun is not to widen your education, but for something else entirely different.

[Accyexplorer]

I'm trying to "understand",''God loves a trier''

Nobody on here is attacking decent folk who have hit hard times and find it difficult to get back into work. Those people have yours/my support 100%, and always will.

The "scroungers",freeloaders are the ones we are upset about,The ones that don't want to work and will find every excuse under the sun not to work and to maintain their life on benefits.
Have they written a cookbook on how to avoid work and how to milk the system?,you tell me

Margaret is the sort of person that we as a society should be doing FAR more to help.

Close????

[Margaret Pilkington]

I actually would prefer not to have help.
It damages my independence...and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am fiercely independent.
I trust myself. I can rely on myself. I have planned my retirement with care......because I have seen those who haven't been able to do that and it is a miserable time if you have no money.
I have been fortunate in my life to be blessed with a working life which was long and had few interruptions(the only time I have ever been on the dole was during the miners strike and the three day week - we worked one week and played the next...the dole had to be claimed to get your stamps put on).
This isn't to say that I do not have empathy for those who find themselves(through no fault of their own) in tough financial times.

What grieves me is to hear people say that it doesn't pay them to go to work...that they would lose benefits...that it wouldn't be worth their while.
What grieves me is that some peole will find themsleves on benefits and it becomes easier than getting out of bed and going out to get the bus on a cold morning and putting in a days graft.
Work isn't just about earning a living, it is about being part of the fabric of society. It is about having aspirations,bettering yourself.
Life must be an awful burden if you have no esteem, no self worth, no aspirations.

I have worked at jobs I didn't much like - because they paid the bills.
I have got up and walked to Blackburn through snow because there were no buses...my job was important to me.
This is called a work ethic - and it is what is missing from the lives of many people today.

I have been poor, I have learned how to budget, I have learned that when the job situation isn't rosy you don't go into a debt that you cannot afford.

I can make do and mend, in short I know how to manage my money when there isn't much of it to spare.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Less

Now, if Margaret doesn't mind, I'll get back to reading my back issues of the Sun, there is an important article on page 3 in one of them where Janice (age 19 from Blackburn) tells us of the benefits of having silicone implants inserted by the NHS.

Thought you were reading the motoring section Less, isn't that clip about the Nissan Pathfinders independent suspension?

[Less]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

Thought you were reading the motoring section Less, isn't that clip about the Nissan Pathfinders independent suspension?

Nah, it was their classic car section The Austin Princess, their suspension was far superior!

Suspension used BL's Hydragas system, and was very soft and smooth; the intention was to offer a smooth ride

Notice the need for an RAC badge, a symbol of reliability in those days.

[accyman]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I will, in future try to use Sun language....short words short sentences......those aimed at people with lesser language skills(and this is not calculated to offend those who read The Sun).

lol the sun is the only newspaper that if used as loo roll in an emergencey would leave behind more crap on your arse than what you started out with

[Studio25]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

...Have you had a pleasant experience or been knocked off benefits and wish to share that experience,then please do so...

I had to sign on 25 years ago.

The small company I was working for at the time went bankrupt (none of the peons like me saw it coming). They owed me about three thousand in salary, holiday pay and unpaid expenses. There was (possibly still is) a government fund that covers expenses and holiday pay and some salary, but to get it you needed to sign on.

I was treated with disdain and indifference by the staff at the Job Centre (as it was back then, I think). "Fill these out and sign them." as a wad of forms was quite literally thrown at me. I didn't look at them. I explained my situation, and finished with "I don't want to sign on, don't want the money, it's a waste of my time and yours. I'll be in a new job within a month. If I don't do it, I won't get the money I'm owed for work I've already done."

The attitude changed, I got help filling in the one form I needed, and three weeks later I was in a new job. In the meantime I got a surprisingly big cheque each week until I signed off. I seem to recall it was deferred by a week or two, so there was a bit of a wait for the first, and I still got one, possibly two, after signing off.

Fast forward nine months and I get a letter stating that I'd been overpaid by £100 but because it was an administrative mistake and not fraud, they would not be seeking to recover the amount.

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

What would you call those people who claim benefits when they are perfectly capable of work? Who just want an easy life? Who want their fags and tattoos paid for by those of us who have worked all of our lives?

LAZY

What would you call those people who draw benefits and work in the black economy?

CHEATS

I'm not being fly, I would genuinely like to know.

It is these people who draw benefits when they do not need them who are really depriving the needy, the vulnerable...of a service that they actually need. It is STEALING!

No-one answered your questions Margaret - I have put my answers in red. Hopefully not TMLW for the thread-starter - I could crop the "s" to make the second answer have just 5 letters if that's more acceptable - or should that be better...

[Less]

Originally Posted by mobertol

have just 5 letters if that's more acceptable - or should that be better...

Perhaps the word your looking for is apt?

Not a long word and not used as often in everyday conversation by some folk so it may cause complications.

[Alan Varrechia]

Thanks Less, took me 10 mins to scroll past post 20.