The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

pollyanna_26

Me too Mar. Born a few years after WW2 and a few days before the NHS went live there was a hope of better times to come. A new Jerusalem. Land fit for heroes etc. There was a lot of progress, council house building, Healthcare free at the point of need and Educational opportunities for those not born into wealth. We had the chance to organise and campaign peacefully on many issues the environment, women's lib and many others.

It was never the levelling up so often talked of now but it was progress. I've said before my parents taught me never to forget my roots and I never have. My children and grandchildren have had every chance to live a good life. Healthcare and security.

It is shameful to have foodbanks and soup kitchens but they are the only hope for those struggling. I have spoken to so many who had uncaring families, often barely any schooling or learning of life skills. There are more with genuine reasons for being on the streets or struggling to feed their families than there are chancers.

I had quiet words with a community police officer a few years ago.  Youngest and were chatting to a young woman sitting in a set back doorway next to M&S. She wasn't begging or obstructing the pavement and we often had a chat. We were ordered to move on and when we didn't he threatened to arrest me. I told him he'd have to call for a police officer with power of arrest because he didn't have that power. He mumbled a bit then moved a few feet away. When we went into Marks he and his mate followed us in hiding behind pillars. I needed to get some cash out of the machine and they lurked I think they were hoping we'd go out again and give some money to the woman. We did some shopping in the food hall then headed to the taxi rank still with our escort behind us I did tell him to bear in mind There but for Fortune go you and I but that fell on stony ground.

I wish we could go back to the time of hope and see a better outcome but even without covid there is so much hatred, mocking and lack of consideration for either the law or anyone else it's a very faint hope.

pollyx

monnagran

Morning all.

Mar, I couldn't agree more.  Unfortunately human nature doesn't go along the 'fair shares for all' path.  If all the wealth in the world were shared out equally between the population, by the end of a couple of weeks we would be back to having some millionaires, some in the gutter and the rest strung out in between.  We all know people who have, by their own determined efforts, risen from extreme poverty and deprivation to good, even spectacular, lives, and others from rich, privileged backgrounds who have gambled away or in some way lost all their money and ended up in a dingy bed-sit.  Until everyone's intelligence, mindset and life experience is the same, and we are a race of robots, I'm afraid we are stuck with the system as it is.  Those who are strong enough and have a caring and social conscience will go on trying to help those who have fallen on hard times, and we will all go on blaming the 'system'.
Here endeth the sermon.

I'm tackling the linen cupboard in my dear old friend's flat today.  The social worker seems to think that  his wife will be coming home eventually.  Knowing the pair of them well I can't see it working, but who knows, we just have to deal with the situation as it is.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY 

Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts.

CatieE

I agree with you monnagran.

It is a strange world we live in and not always very kind. Yesterday I took my daughter to see the foals in the field opposite to where we live. It was so peaceful until we heard the sound of shouting. The elderly gentleman a few doors away had received very unwelcome visitors! Apparently he had sold his house within a few hours of it being advertised to a family who were ready to proceed and willing to pay the asking price. Anyway, another couple interested in the property appeared (and without even seeing inside the house)  offered to pay more than what was being asked. When the gentleman said he wished to honour the agreement he had made, the couple became cross and said many things they should not have said. What a horrid way to behave.....

MingVase

You know what  Native Americans say about rich people? If we see somebody rich we think wow they've done well... the indians say wow they must be very greedy. 

MollyWindley

Thank you for that thought Ming ~ at the end of June ( Covid permitting) I'm taking my Mum to see my sister two counties away, it'll be two years since our last visit and as Mum is now in her nineties I think we should get on and do it while she can still comfortably sit in a car for an hour and a bit's ride.   

However the visit is somewhat tough for me as dsis married very well financially, their home is vast as is the land surrounding it ( this happens I'm told when you marry a merchant banker!) , and as she has got wealthier, and I guess I've gotten poorer it seems there is a real gulf in our lifestyles........I shall think about Native Americans and smile to myself 

Florenceem

pollyanna_26 - I have read Alex Ferguson's life story book - hadn't heard of a film.
 Duracell bunny is feeling a bit flat after hours out yesterday - not used to it. I did return home to 2 parcels of yummy yarn in the porch. I now have black yarn for the ordered shawl - her Birthday is next Saturday so I should be okay but already not enjoying working with this colour yarn.
I have a completed shawl blocking upstairs - I pin them out on the bed - this warm weather is a bonus - spray and they dry really quickly. I did start an earth tones shawl yesterday but that has been put aside while I work on the black one.
Not heard of Legion of Mary so had a google.

Florenceem

MingVase - while people are selfish - there will always be need in the world. I go with - There but for the Grace of God - go I.
pollyanna26- that woman in government who sold off council houses has a lot of blame for the social housing shortage today. Houses were not built to replace those that people bought cheaply from the council.  I was brought up in council housing and there was a waiting list back in the 1950/1960s but that woman made it worse. Note - I don't want to type her name! I am not anti house ownership. I own my home.
Our friend can't get out easily so we brought home some of her unwanted stuff - Mr F has just gone out with it to the charity shop.

Florenceem

MingVase - Native Americans have some wonderful sayings.
MollyWindley - do you know that your rich relative is happier with her life than you? 

• True wealth is not of the pocket, but of the heart and of the mind.

MingVase

I've got a very good Navajo pal

ivyleaf

Polly and Molly (ooh, that's a happy pairing of names!   ) Yes, we will need to "go private" for an assessment for DS.  He keeps putting it off as it feels such a big step, though he has found a forum for people with ADHD and that seems to be helpful for him. He is highly intelligent but lives a life of chaos, unable to get organised and always late for everything. When his friends want to meet him they give him a time a couple of hours earlier than they actually want to meet up, then there's some faint hope that he'll be more or less on time!