The benefits circle of hell.

As most of you know we are on benefits, the dole, welfare to our friends over the pond.
I would like, at this point, the reiterate that we do NOT feel bad about this. Kim worked very hard his whole working life and has paid over 35 years of income tax and national insurance so I don't think anyone could accuse him of not "contributing" to the economy.

Its amazing to think it has been a whole YEAR now since he was made redundant and in that year he has been invited to maybe a dozen interviews, had countless letters saying thanks but no thanks and has sent our even more CV's than he can remember. So really no one could accuse him of not TRYING to get a job.

Well it was his 12 month assessment the other week.
The job centre called him in to try and find out why he wasn't working yet, so armed with all the paperwork he had accumulated over the year he set off on the long trek to Aberdeen.

Now, we never expect to be treated like long lost friends at the job centre. Yes we realise that a good amount of their time is taken up with people who have never worked (and probably never will and don't care) but who always seem to have enough money for fags and booze and (openly) drugs, and who do it all in designer street wear.
But you should be able to expect a little civility right?

So the interview opened.
The unsmiling clerk, spends 10 minutes checking up on the computer exactly what Kim has been applying for.
Ok...
"We need you to cast your net a little wider Mr Basford."
"Ok."
"You need to stop setting your sights to high."

stop.

"Setting his sights too high!?"
So applying for work in a warehouse and being a school caretaker is "setting his sights too high?"

Not one of Kim's applications have been for CEO of Texaco or Arch Bishop of Canterbury (can supply own dress).

Ok.

"You also need to be prepared to commute further. You need to apply for more jobs in Aberdeen."
"I don't have a car, so I am limited by public transport."
*Shocked look*
"What do you mean you don't have a car?"
"Well we have a 30 year old petrol land rover but I can't commute in it. My Car blew up and I couldn't afford to fix it or buy a new one."
*Looks at Kim like he blew the car up on purpose*
"Right, public transport..."

Now Aberdeen is 30 miles away. By train and bus you are looking at a minimum of £60 a week in travel. Fine if your on £25'000 per anum, not so hot if your on say £15'000. It becomes a serious chunk of your income.
Kim explained this, he also pointed out that if he took a minimum wage job he would still have to pay full council tax which would mean that as a family we would not be a little worse off but significantly worse off.

"*sniff*, we don't take that into account Mr Basford. You need to be looking at a maximum of 1 and 1/2 hours commuting each way."
"But that would take me as far as Inverness!(80 miles, @ £135 a week..nearly half a low wage. Very ecological.)
"Yes it would."
"I think your being unreasonable. I can't commute that far."
"Well Mr Basford, you should have thought about that before moving to the country."

WHOA!

Is this what it comes down to?
Is he suggesting we sell our house and move into the city?
Does he not take into account that for 8 of the 9 years we have lived here Kim has been in gainful employment?

Wait a sec..how about we tell all the CITY people to move BACK to the city where THEIR jobs are so that their spouses can get low paid "pin money"jobs (ie , jobs they don't NEED, but do because they are bored)THERE and free up jobs in rural areas for ..oh..I dunno..PEOPLE WHO LIVE RURALLY!

I have lived in the country for over 17 years, Kim his whole life! We did not move to our house to "downsize" (ie sell 2 bed flat in city and buy 6 bed country pile) We moved here because despite us both (seperatly) trying to live urban, we both hated it so much we moved back to the country.

We are arriving in a time when only the wealthy are deemed "worthy" to live in the country, because moving to the country is what you do when you have "made it."

Would you uproot your kids from a good school, leave all your friends behind and sell all your animals, forget growing any food of your own, and live in a shitty council flat because you MIGHT get a minimum wage job stacking shelves?

I refuse to bow to that. While we have our house (paid for, so no mortgage) and our veggie garden we have a fighting chance of making our lives better. If we moved to the city we would be a million times worse off.

Our plan is to get off this moral draining merry-go-round, better to be worse off and self employed doing a bit here and there,than to be worse off and living in a crap part of a crap city in a crap job.
Its a scary thought.
Being on benefits is like being a slave.
Yes you get fed and a roof over your head, but they can whip it our from under your feet when ever they feel like it.
They can threaten you into taking the worst possible job by dangling the little money your entitled too under your nose.

Shall we finish the interview?

"You need to get more proactive Mr Basford."
"Yes."
"We think you should spend two days a week going door to door with your CV's iN inverurie."
"I can't afford the train to do that! It would be nearly £25 a week!"
"We don't take that into account Mr Basford."
"So, do have any training available for me?"
"No Mr Basford."
"But I thought you where meant to offer me training?"

"No. You can find some yourself, but you will have to declare it and it may effect your benefits if you work over so many hours."

Ok.

Fuck 'em.

Even a guy in a cardboard box has more freedom than that.

Think of us.