tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post2202559548962117633..comments2024-03-28T09:16:33.241+00:00Comments on Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: We're all Equal NowSue Marshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849801822216267250noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-5190182372743852952022-04-21T10:02:26.940+01:002022-04-21T10:02:26.940+01:00Wish you all the best for upcoming comments. I am ...Wish you all the best for upcoming comments. I am also wanted to write blog kindly guide me if my topic is <a href="https://huaguangwiresandcables.com/product/household-electrical-wiring/" rel="nofollow">household electrical wiring</a> then what should I do first and how will I create new and unique content on this topic<br />Biginmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16167957285536507020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-62554727294340067672013-09-05T01:31:49.327+01:002013-09-05T01:31:49.327+01:00I too have started to need a wheelchair recently, ...I too have started to need a wheelchair recently, I know the feeling. They need to go back to the drawing board with it all! We need more creative answers - such as chairs that can be altered or compressed together in order to make more wheelie room , meaning 10chairs could be in one carriage with all the chairs slid back... !<br /><br />However, we generally tend to be an after thought, a "shove them in the corner" attitude. I just hope wee are looking back on this in a few years and laughing bat how big companies thought it was ok to do it,,, ! <br /><br />Love your blog by the way, always a good read when I can sleep (now for example!) <br /><br />Thanks, <br />Friday @ dignifiedandproud,blogspot.com Fribitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01471150941925427401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-36028248217350081062013-09-01T08:14:07.387+01:002013-09-01T08:14:07.387+01:00Thank you Lucy, you are very kind. XThank you Lucy, you are very kind. XMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069196685174248331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-14247925864590503182013-09-01T02:47:53.615+01:002013-09-01T02:47:53.615+01:00Hi Martin,
Thanks for taking the time to reply an...Hi Martin,<br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to reply and trying to understand where I'm coming from. I know it would be much easier to take offence and write me off as angry and irrational and I do appreciate it.<br /><br />I'm worried I might not have been clear enough on one thing - I think it's fantastic that your father wanted to help. I always appreciate it a great deal when someone asks if I'd like a hand when I'm in a difficult situation.<br /><br />Most of the time of course in my case it's a 'no but thank you', but it leaves a warm glow to be asked! Other times, if it's something like holding a heavy door open I definitely take them up on it and am very thankful for the help.<br /><br />The key words are just 'offer' and 'ask'. Just like it's lovely to eg offer a pregnant woman a hand with some heavy bags, but not ok to grab the bags from her and start walking! <br /><br />Good luck, and I hope I haven't upset your Dad, he sounds lovely! xLucyinBedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514611193925464671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-83322110925523314072013-08-31T09:23:01.167+01:002013-08-31T09:23:01.167+01:00Hi Lucy. I never meant to portray the lady in the ...Hi Lucy. I never meant to portray the lady in the wheelchair as an inanimate object, far from it. I just simplified the story i guess and omitted the lady. I suppose it's because she didn't actually say anything at the time, whereas the man did. I understand what you are saying though. I am sure my Father would appreciate your concerns and he would think twice about offering assistance in a similar situation in the future. What you said reminds me a bit of a time at family wedding, when we were all on a hired bus taking us to the church. I put my arms around my dear Nan to lift her off the step, not knowing she had a very delicate back problem. I was so upset when i saw the pain in her face as i lifted her, so sometimes simply helping someone can create a bigger problem. I would offer an apology for my Dads naivety, but i won't as, one; my Dad apologizes for himself and two; this wasn't a direct action towards yourself. I am not ignorant to the sensibilities of a disabled person, neither am i ignorant to the reality of a disabled persons life. There is a line that separates right and wrong, which maybe my father crossed when he helped the man and lady up the slope, it wasn't due to his disrespect of the man and lady, just possibly a bit of 'over-friendliness'. Typical isn't it! In a country where a nasty government deliberatly tries to create hell on earth for disabled people, a simple gesture of goodwill can be regarded as an assault and violation of someones personal boundaries. How crazy! Thanks again Lucy, for your honesty, care and education, my Father and i will hope to learn from this experience. XMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069196685174248331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-81215924124267605952013-08-31T01:19:44.366+01:002013-08-31T01:19:44.366+01:00another death reported today in the Crawley observ...another death reported today in the Crawley observer on page 4 in the name of lee Robinson who committed suicide after his ESA was stopped following long term unemploymentNickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10124601639681931119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-37550365218210937232013-08-30T23:00:11.479+01:002013-08-30T23:00:11.479+01:00Ummm, Martin I'm sure you mean absolutely no h...Ummm, Martin I'm sure you mean absolutely no harm, and neither did your father, but I have to say that as a wheelchair user I find your story and the way you tell it very disturbing. One of the reasons I rarely feel safe enough to leave the house is because of fear of well meaning strangers who think they are 'doing the right thing' by grabbing my wheelchair and manhandling me about, and the pain and even permanent physical damage this can leave me with.<br /><br />I know you're coming from a point of view of total lack of understanding, but please allow me to explain that it is absolutely never ok to have (in your words)<br />'grabbed one of the wheelchair handles to help him up the slope'.<br /><br />It is very nice that your father wanted to help. I am sure if he'd offered the wheelchair user herself (the wife who is strangely absent from this anecdote) would have been grateful for the offer. It would then have been up to her and, secondarily, her husband, to accept his help or not! <br /><br />You conclude that 'The man was fine about it'. Again I find it pretty strange that you don't mention whether the woman - the actual wheelchair-user your father was, according to your account manhandling without her consent - was 'fine with it'. She seems simply to be, in your eyes, an inanimate physical burden, much like a large suitcase, which your father decided her husband needed help with.<br /><br />Please understand, I am not writing this to irritate or provoke, I am not being 'PC for the sake of it' but because I think you've probably got the best of intentions but your basic understanding is really flawed.<br /><br />A quick example. I have extreme chronic pain and can no longer walk. My legs are extremely easily damaged. My husband and I have spent years working out the exact way to help me with difficult wheelchair manouveres so as to cause the minimum amount of pain or damage. <br />Had your father or you grabbed hold of my wheelchair when my husband was helping me up a ramp, to say we both would have been terrified would be an understatement. You would of course have had no idea how easily you could have caused me serious pain and permanent damage. My husband would have said pretty much exactly what you report this man saying: 'I do this all the time' - i.e, I know what the f**k I'm doing, get your hands off my wife'. He would have spoken politely, he would not want to antagonise given the incredibly vulnerable situation your father had unintentionally put me in. <br /><br />If he would not let go, as your father apparently wouldn't, he could hardly risk physically forcing your father to desist, after all, he had hold of my wheelchair.<br /><br />Afterwards, as I sat quietly sobbing, ashamed and in pain, my husband may well have given you the impression he was 'fine with it', because neither of us could have coped with a scene. The fear of this encounter would certainly lead us never to leave the house alone again, without a 3rd party to stop someone well meaning like your father from hurting me again.<br /><br />I am not saying that these were the actual effects of your father's actions on this couple, but I'm saying they could well have been, and he would be none the wiser.<br /><br />It's really not complicated. Have respect, offer the wheelchair user help, if it's refused then trust that he or she knows best. Ask yourself, under what possible other circumstances would you think it ok to invade the personal space of another person to this extent without permission? A child, maybe? Or maybe not.<br /><br />I am not a not a child, and I am not a suitcase. <br />LucyinBedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514611193925464671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-57604231655869999102013-08-30T10:48:51.663+01:002013-08-30T10:48:51.663+01:00I would say that the Tramlink from Croydon to Wimb...I would say that the Tramlink from Croydon to Wimbledon is very good for wheelchair access. The trams floors are all at platform level, with no gaps, so easy to wheel on and off Trams. The Trams themselves have whole sections of the carriages that have no seats, so wheelchairs can be parked there and the door opening buttons are all at low positions to help wheelchair users. There are also track crossing points with no steps and the entrances to stations are all slopes, no steps. Coming home on the Tram from a Chelsea football match with my Father recently, we saw a man who i have seen before pushing his wife in a wheelchair and my Dad grabbed one of the wheelchair handles to help him up the slope. The man said "Thanks, but i do this all day", but my Dad just carried on and said "I know but I'm just giving you a bit of help". The man was fine about it. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069196685174248331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-78657197348194951022013-08-27T21:50:53.540+01:002013-08-27T21:50:53.540+01:00I got an office job with Scotrail just before I go...I got an office job with Scotrail just before I got too ill to work.<br />I was told by head of HR that they wouldn't have employed me if they'd realised how disabled I was.<br />So much for equal ops.Scahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12097036717641301600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-23822453871201970322013-08-27T21:42:29.107+01:002013-08-27T21:42:29.107+01:00The station closest to my office is Birchwood, War...The station closest to my office is Birchwood, Warrington. Have to climb 2 flights of stairs, go across a bridge and down 2 flights the other side. It used to be excruciatingly painful. Only solution provided by Northern rail was to carry on to Warrington Central, change platforms using the lift and wait for another train to come back to Birchwood on the station side of the rails! This on top of a journey that was already 2hrs long! And I would haveto pay extra for my 'extra' travel! That was their idea of disabled access!FibroNewbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16607875934476728958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-52750948116429518682013-08-27T21:04:19.516+01:002013-08-27T21:04:19.516+01:00Imagine the cash that was going to be spent on HS2...Imagine the cash that was going to be spent on HS2 being spent on the present railway system!<br />Mind, I didn't know we had any money, but that's by the by!<br />So we can have some old lines re-opened to improve rail coverage, better disabled access, newer carriages, & what about bringing back the guards van - one could park scooters in there!<br />I am sure there are other ideas too, heck we might have trains suitable for the 21st century!<br />But silly me........why do something of benefit to us all!<br />MWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14418700311460432076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-26257301805178014292013-08-27T20:27:03.448+01:002013-08-27T20:27:03.448+01:00An excellent argument in favour of bulldozing many...An excellent argument in favour of bulldozing many stations (among other buildings) and re-vitalising the construction industy by starting from scratch for the 21st century and beyond.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00599839475221199215noreply@blogger.com