Disability hate crime and scapegoating fears

[pulisa]

I feel as though I'm being misunderstood once again, though perhaps 'perpetual nastiness' might have been the wrong wording.

No,you're not being misunderstood, Lenco..I do appreciate that you must have had very traumatic and damaging experiences when you were younger..but hopefully not now and not at your Day Centre.

[BlueIris]

Why do you dislike and despise people so much?

[Catkins]

Hopefully this won't offend, Catkins, but I'd rather people were respectful towards NHS staff at all times rather than being self-congratulatory and performative about it.

I hated the clapping, I was even more mortified in the early days of lockdown when I went to the early morning NHS shopping slot and the people waiting outside for the shop to open clapped when we came out. I was kind of moved by it but at the same time felt terrible because one of those waiting outside was a blind man and his guide dog and I felt he was more worthy of being clapped because he'd walked there on his own for 8 o'clock opening.

[pulisa]

I'm not sure what good the clapping served and now the NHS is apparently "broken" but I do think people genuinely were very grateful for how NHS workers responded to covid, putting themselves at risk whilst providing brilliant care and saving many lives. You truly deserved your allocated shopping slot, Catkins and I'm sure the blind man would have agreed wholeheartedly with this.

[NoraB]

But I definitely agree with you that people who work in the NHS and the like should be respected all the time, major crisis or not, especially as they often perform very thankless tasks day in day out, overworked and chronically underpaid and I also agree that the CFC (and the wearing of plastic poppies) did/does smack of virtue signalling on occasions.

I have to disagree.

I've been treated shabbily too many times by NHS staff to agree that respect should be a given just because somebody wears a badge. The NHS worker who roughly manhandled my legs into position because I didn't understand his verbal instruction? I don't respect him. I also don't respect the midwife who treated me like shit when I was 17 and having my first baby. All I did was ask for some pain relief and I was given a lecture on not being the only one in labour, and did I realise that there was staff shortage on? Or the GP who told me that there are people out there with real health problems whereas I 'only' had anxiety (I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year later). Or the doctor who refused to stop when I was crying out in pain. (The nurse, who was lovely, had to tell her that I was about to pass out)

I clapped for the NHS workers, and I will always be humbled (and grateful) for everyone's efforts during the pandemic, not only NHS, but all those other people who helped to keep this country going during that terrible (I sent our milkman a letter of thanks)

But don't ask me to respect someone who is not showing me respect as a patient and as a human being, just because they have an NHS badge.

As far as I'm concerned. when you sign up for the NHS you sign up to care. You should not be adding extra burden to people who are their most vulnerable, as people generally are when they're ill and/or afraid.

That said, I've also experienced some truly lovely NHS workers like the bloke who sorted my cut finger out a few months ago. He was awesome. So lovely and funny and he made me feel safe. Isn't that how it should feel every time?

And there was that bloke who did one of my MRI's and I impressed him with how I was able to remove my bra from under my tunic ha ha. He even walked me back to where Mr Batty was waiting because I told him I always get myself lost...

@Catkins, I have no doubt that you're one of the very best, given how lovely you are on here. I'm just being honest about my experiences and that's why I don't agree with Lenco (or anybody else that thinks this) that respect 'should' be a given.

[Lencoboy]

I have to disagree.

I've been treated shabbily too many times by NHS staff to agree that respect should be a given just because somebody wears a badge. The NHS worker who roughly manhandled my legs into position because I didn't understand his verbal instruction? I don't respect him. I also don't respect the midwife who treated me like shit when I was 17 and having my first baby. All I did was ask for some pain relief and I was given a lecture on not being the only one in labour, and did I realise that there was staff shortage on? Or the GP who told me that there are people out there with real health problems whereas I 'only' had anxiety (I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year later). Or the doctor who refused to stop when I was crying out in pain. (The nurse, who was lovely, had to tell her that I was about to pass out)

I clapped for the NHS workers, and I will always be humbled (and grateful) for everyone's efforts during the pandemic, not only NHS, but all those other people who helped to keep this country going during that terrible (I sent our milkman a letter of thanks)

But don't ask me to respect someone who is not showing me respect as a patient and as a human being, just because they have an NHS badge.

As far as I'm concerned. when you sign up for the NHS you sign up to care. You should not be adding extra burden to people who are their most vulnerable, as people generally are when they're ill and/or afraid.

That said, I've also experienced some truly lovely NHS workers like the bloke who sorted my cut finger out a few months ago. He was awesome. So lovely and funny and he made me feel safe. Isn't that how it should feel every time?

And there was that bloke who did one of my MRI's and I impressed him with how I was able to remove my bra from under my tunic ha ha. He even walked me back to where Mr Batty was waiting because I told him I always get myself lost...

@Catkins, I have no doubt that you're one of the very best, given how lovely you are on here. I'm just being honest about my experiences and that's why I don't agree with Lenco (or anybody else that thinks this) that respect 'should' be a given.

Nora, I did actually point out that as in pretty much every profession there are always going to be the odd bad apples who all too often slip through the net and just seem to be tolerated in order to 'keep the peace', especially the so-called 'untouchables' who all too often seem to think they know it all, when in many of such instances, it's often the complete opposite.

Plus I'm sorry to hear of your bad experiences in the past involving NHS personnel, and of course many others in other professions over the years.

Of course, I would have (probably rightly) been shot down in flames and dubbed 'insensitive' had I been blatantly slagging off all NHS (and likewise) workers on here.

Grey area, and all that.

[Lencoboy]

Why do you dislike and despise people so much?

I'm sorry BI, but that comes across as a bit of a sweeping generalisation.

[NoraB]

Nora, I did actually point out that as in pretty much every profession there are always going to be the odd bad apples who all too often slip through the net and just seem to be tolerated in order to 'keep the peace', especially the so-called 'untouchables' who all too often seem to think they know it all, when in many of such instances, it's often the complete opposite.

It might be the case that they joined these services with good intention, Lenco, but somewhere along the way they lost sight of their 'vocation' and forgot that they are dealing with human beings, not an NHS number.

In the case of that midwife, it might well have been her trillionth delivery, but it was my first and I was young and scared. Everything was a first for me. I was in a lot of pain (obviously) and left on my own for hours on end and made to wait for pain relief (even when it was hours overdue). I've never forgotten how she spoke to me. I still have the photograph of her scowling face as she weighed my son. I think people doctors/nurses/midwives etc forget how important their attitude is to patients and how experiences like this are never forgotten.

[BlueIris]

No need to apologise, but I stand by my words. You very rarely seem to show any sort of positive attitude towards the rest of humanity.

[Lencoboy]

It might be the case that they joined these services with good intention, Lenco, but somewhere along the way they lost sight of their 'vocation' and forgot that they are dealing with human beings, not an NHS number.

In the case of that midwife, it might well have been her trillionth delivery, but it was my first and I was young and scared. Everything was a first for me. I was in a lot of pain (obviously) and left on my own for hours on end and made to wait for pain relief (even when it was hours overdue). I've never forgotten how she spoke to me. I still have the photograph of her scowling face as she weighed my son. I think people doctors/nurses/midwives etc forget how important their attitude is to patients and how experiences like this are never forgotten.

I do agree that there are a lot of so-called 'jobsworths' who are only really in certain professions for the money (and sometimes even on a bit of a power trip), and seem to forget about 'tact' and general dignity, then have the nerve to play the 'zero tolerance' card when any patient, client (or whoever) dares to stand their ground and question the attitudes of those 'professionals' concerned.

But like I said upthread, it's always going to be a grey area.