The Cellar - View Single Post - 'Extreme Makeover' house faces foreclosure

Sundae · 07-29-2008, 05:23 PM

Just jumping on the hijacked bandwagon, can I point out that the good guys aren't always the success stories, and they don't always have to be?

I hear a lot in this country (via the Conservative media) about pensioners, poor old pensioners, served their country, don't get what's due them, might as well have sat on their arses all their lives, not rewarded for their work ethic etc etc etc.

My Grandad worked hard all his life. He did a number of jobs, all reasonably low paid, all effectively in the service industry, all necessary to the industry he worked in. I'm not claiming being a stagehand at the Royal Opera House is the same as being a policeman, but it is essential to the Opera House and a man of little education will do it for a price they can afford. He lived in council housing all his life (home ownership was not an option for the owkring class until the late 20th century here - far too late for my Grandparents) and put money away in a pension scheme which collapsed in the 80s. By all accounts he didn't lose much, but then he believed the Welfare State would look after him - as many of his generation believed - he paid into it all his life.

Anyway, he ended up his days as a hospital porter (cross between a bell boy and a janitor, but in a public hospital). He retired when he was 67.

At 86, he lives in council housing still. No property to leave. He gets a visit twice daily to help him wash and dress. He has a cleaner 3 times a week. he has a day out at a social club once a week - door-to-door service and they have a dentist, barber and optician visit. Oh - all prescriptions free, same with dentist & optician. He gets a heating allowance, TV licence reduction and I have a feeling he doesn't pay council tax, or gets another healthy reduction. He technically pays for some of the above out of a Social Services allowance, to give him more freedom on what he needs. My Mum picks up all the slack i.e. washing, ironing, shopping, taking him to the Doctors etc.

All of the above is just to say - so many people here have an ant and grasshopper thing going on. Grandad was never a grasshopper. He was a decent, poorly educated man doing mundane jobs at the bottom of the pile and never complaining. My Dad is a similar man. Don't assume that "bettering yourself" works for everyone, or is indeed necessary. Someone has to mop Ward 17 when there's shit on the floor.

07-29-2008, 05:23 PM	#31
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Just jumping on the hijacked bandwagon, can I point out that the good guys aren't always the success stories, and they don't always have to be? I hear a lot in this country (via the Conservative media) about pensioners, poor old pensioners, served their country, don't get what's due them, might as well have sat on their arses all their lives, not rewarded for their work ethic etc etc etc. My Grandad worked hard all his life. He did a number of jobs, all reasonably low paid, all effectively in the service industry, all necessary to the industry he worked in. I'm not claiming being a stagehand at the Royal Opera House is the same as being a policeman, but it is essential to the Opera House and a man of little education will do it for a price they can afford. He lived in council housing all his life (home ownership was not an option for the owkring class until the late 20th century here - far too late for my Grandparents) and put money away in a pension scheme which collapsed in the 80s. By all accounts he didn't lose much, but then he believed the Welfare State would look after him - as many of his generation believed - he paid into it all his life. Anyway, he ended up his days as a hospital porter (cross between a bell boy and a janitor, but in a public hospital). He retired when he was 67. At 86, he lives in council housing still. No property to leave. He gets a visit twice daily to help him wash and dress. He has a cleaner 3 times a week. he has a day out at a social club once a week - door-to-door service and they have a dentist, barber and optician visit. Oh - all prescriptions free, same with dentist & optician. He gets a heating allowance, TV licence reduction and I have a feeling he doesn't pay council tax, or gets another healthy reduction. He technically pays for some of the above out of a Social Services allowance, to give him more freedom on what he needs. My Mum picks up all the slack i.e. washing, ironing, shopping, taking him to the Doctors etc. All of the above is just to say - so many people here have an ant and grasshopper thing going on. Grandad was never a grasshopper. He was a decent, poorly educated man doing mundane jobs at the bottom of the pile and never complaining. My Dad is a similar man. Don't assume that "bettering yourself" works for everyone, or is indeed necessary. Someone has to mop Ward 17 when there's shit on the floor.