Rant

[Sundae]

When I had my complete meltdown a few years back, and moved back home to my parents, I had to go through the system in order to claim benefits. All well and good, would the Daily Mail readers say, don't give out money willy-nilly. Oh check she's white and British while you're at it.

But it was something like six weeks if I remember correctly, before I received a penny.
I was lucky, I was living with family.
But it put a serious strain on someone (me) who already had mental health issues. Add that to the fact I couldn't register for a GP without photo ID, which was all in the right name but at the wrong address, and I was flopping about like a fish in the bottom of a boat.

I had to borrow, borrow, borrow from the 'rents.
Why?
Because it costs to get a change of address. And in the end you still need hygiene products, your cat needs food, you need to use the phone your monkey needs spanking etc etc.
I ended up on the phone begging for what they used to call a Crisis Loan. LOAN. And was subjected to exceptionally personal questions including why couldn't my parents share meals with me? Even if they were eating ready-meals, couldn't they leave a little on their plates? A few months after that the right wing press published stories about families who used Crisis Loans to take their families on holidays abroad...

Still, the Tories have sorted that all out.
This time round there are no Crisis Loans.
Just a Hardship Fund. And I was ineligible because I don't have any children.
So I had to borrow, borrow, borrow.
I've been very careful recently to do more than is called for around the house. Because the 'rents provide the electricity and the internet access that allow me to come to the Cellar. And it's Dwellars this time who have seen me through.