Earlier tonight I read an article about the scout leader who knocked over an ancient rock formation and then claimed it was accidental because of a car accident he was in a few years back. Sure, that story is bad enough, but reader comments were worse (Given that this article was on Yahoo!, ignorant comments come with the territory.).
The recurring theme among these stupid, heartless comments, ranging from repeating the welfare queen myth to saying Social Security should be investigated or dismantled can simply be boiled down to 'Get off your ass and get a job!' I have a reply:
I would love to. No, really, I would, but since these folks and their parents voted away every opportunity we could have had, that simply isn't possible. I used to spend several hours a day looking for work, but I no longer have a desire to do so because it's like beating my head against a brick wall with no way through whatsoever. I went to school to be educated in computer science so my disabilities wouldn't be an issue, but since all that has been outsourced via off-shoring, near-shoring, and H1 guest workers, there's no chance in hell I'll be able to get a job any time soon.
"You should have planned ahead", they say. Hah! With the way the country runs these days, that's literally impossible. Most people live paycheck to paycheck, and all it takes is one disaster, be it illness or injury, to put someone out on the streets. Companies can also shut down and move operations at the drop of a hat, and what do workers do then? You also can't plan ahead for disabilities and life long injuries caused by negligent doctors during your birth.
Let me cut to the chase: Those folks who rag on people who collect disability payments have no idea how truly hard it is to obtain or maintain employment, full or part time. Those same folks, like all of us in the past thirty years, have had it beaten into their heads that we're all just temporarily embarrassed billionaires just itching to come up with the next great idea or some scheme to get rich quick. Sorry, but that isn't reality.
Most folks who look to get ahead in life have to take out massive debt just to become educated thanks to good ol' privatization. Those who don't end up working part time McJobs where the McWages are so low they're forced onto the very programs they're also taught to hate.
The other thing these 'normal' people fail to realize is that disabilities, like clothes, come in many shapes and sizes. Just because you see someone with fibromyalgia doing yard work from time to time doesn't mean that person can hold a full time job, nor does it mean we should keep up a certain appearance just to appease the ignorant.
In closing, I certainly hope those folks who make such vitriolic comments don't become disabled in their lifetime, and if they do, I sure as hell hope they're treated with more kindness than they show in their comments.
See you around,
Homer