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Aneirin -> RE: Benefit scroungers ? (6/30/2010 10:14:27 AM)
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My pride was such that even in twenty years of continuous employment I only ever took nine days sick in those twenty years and although the pay was lousy, I had my pride. The trouble was as a mechanic, mechnical trades were receiving lower and lower pay awards, it was becoming seen as low skilled or even unskilled to be able to repair and keep everything running.
At that time I also eschewed benefits, any form of benefits despite my low pay, I managed with what I had, not the credit everyone seems to value and I was married for half of those ten years with feckless teenagers to support, they annoyed me with their everyone owes them a living mentality, but I kept them, as I was the surrogate father, a father without the benefits of fatherhood.
In time high stress and depression set in, I suffered an attempt on my life, the marriage broke up, with me having a nervous breakdown. I subsequently lost my job, my home and my stuff, I relocated to anothet part of the country and tried to start again. I managed two years of continuous employment, doing the same stuff, which I believed was the only thing I could do, failure to view outside the box lead to more depression to a situation known as black depression, the danger zone. I was also living alone and due to the lousy pay, this time slipping into deep debt. I got made redundant and yet more depression and onto the benefits I went which I saw as recovery time, a time to sit idle and think what to do next, as my home was secured by benefit payments.
In time I decided to avoid the sameness of the same low paid job and employers squeezing the life out of me for peanut pay, I would retrain and off to university I went in the pursuance of a degree in higher education. That education came hard, I had forgotten my past problems with acasemic study, but at least the college discovered something very useful to me, a reason for a lot of my problems through life, I had what was called a learning difficulty.
Now via the college I am getting the correct support, I am now learning to understand why I fail, what are my patterns and more importantly, do something about them, I have some cbt coming up to reprogramme my reactive behaviour.
As I am at college I am on benefits, and of that training to better myself and offer something to society part time, benefits is paying for that, the public purse, but with it comes a desire where before there was none, a desire to create my own business exploiting a gap I have seen in a society where mechanical and manual skills are seen as defunct, for manual skills are still needed and in the capacity in which I intend to be working, a good living can be made.
I do not seek wealth,all I seek is my own employment with a view to teach others my trade, as I believe information is free, everyone is entitled to it and it should be available to all that need it. College has also identified that I am also a very good and natural teacher, their suggestion is to pursue a teaching qualificaton post degree, as it would be a waste to let that natural talent go.
Benefits is enabling me, it is strenghtening me and I will repay what I have taken, whence I complete my studies and find myself in the position to go for it. Of course a new business is of a benefit to many, the subsiduary suppliers who also need trade, benefit, as does the public purse in taxes and quite possibly employment for others. I will make amends for my scrounging status and of my status, there are a lot like me, not all are the stereotypical thing the media and government portray us as.
Incidently, the co prime minister Clegg, his party states in it's policy that anyone not in employment should be retraining for a better future, I am in that position, retraining but I cannot do it on fresh air.
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