Poverty in the UK.... how much of it is lethargy?

I've no doubt that there are some people living in the UK that survive on meagre state hand-outs and life must be really tough. If these adults are getting off their arse and trying to make a better life for themselves and their families then bloody good luck to them and they should receive all the help and support that the exchequer can throw at them.

It's the people that are content for a life on benefits that piss me off. Surely to god these people aren't counted as being parents of the "3.9 million children in UK living in poverty".

What I'm amazed at is how so many people can live in a house with absolutely no means of income other than benefits and yet they're still able to afford Sky TV, they still smoke, they get pissed up more often than I do, and they wear designer clobber!!!! Some of them even call the day they receive their benefits 'pay day'. Pay day!! Right.... if people can afford all of that, and can also afford to eat so much crap food that they're grotesquely obese..... then I'm sorry, but that is not poverty. That's a fucked up benefits system that allows people to take the piss and select "lazy sponging fat bastard" as a career choice.

I'd like to know exactly how 'poverty' is defined. In some parts of the world, there are skeletal-thin, orphaned kids living in gutters - I mean literally living in gutters, begging for food. THAT is poverty.

Gotta stay up

What a season of ups and downs my beloved Barrow AFC have had, and I've been lucky enough to be there to see much of it. We're now nearly, almost, just-about safe but until it's mathematically certain, I'm still brickin' it. Two games left and both of 'em are tough ones - can we really afford to lose at home to high-flying Torquay on Tuesday night, and again away at Eastbourne on Sunday, and still survive? Jesus....

I've followed the Bluebirds this season to Altrincham, Northwich, York, Eastbourne (in the cup), Burton, Torquay, Wrexham, Kettering, Mansfield, oh and a pleasant stop-off at Middlesbrough in the cup. Just two games left and I'll be at them both, including a first for me - travelling to a Barrow game by air! Flying from Manchester to Gatwick for the final game of the season away at Eastbourne. Fingers crossed that it's gonna be a celebration and not a wake. Either way, it can't come soon enough.

No dogs

Been thinking for a while about getting a dog. Not really a goer right now 'cos I live in an apartment and it just wouldn't be practical, but if/when I move to a house, it could be on the agenda. I've weighed up the pros and cons, there's loads but they boil down to the following:

Pros:

Companionship
Unconditional love from the dog
Dog walking is good exercise

Cons:
Vet bills
I work long hours, would need a 'dog sitter'
Dogs stink

Was still mulling it over until today, when I saw what was and is the deal-breaker.

If you ever need reminding that man's existence on earth is fleeting and ultimately pointless, then surely there's no greater proof than watching a person walk along the road in the cold and rain, walking their dog, carrying a little bag of the dog's freshly-crapped crap. I just cannot ever imagine putting myself through the humiliating ritual of turning-the-bag-inside-out-to-pick-the-shit-up that dog owners do. Bollocks to that.

Veggies - miserable bastards

What a nightmare it is when you've got someone coming round who's a vegetarian.

As If preparing and cooking a decent meal for guests isn't stressful enough, you end up having to make two different meals 'cos you've got to make something different to cater for the bloody tree muncher. Now I ask you, have you ever been to dinner at a vegetarians house? I have. Did they go…. "Oh I've got some non-veggies coming round, I must cater for them by cooking steak." ? Did they bollocks. They force their shite food on you. Fucking fennel or some other such shite that makes you fart like hell and leaves you feeling hungry about ten minutes after finishing it. Bloody vegetarians. And you have you ever noticed how sanctimonious and miserable most of them are? Maybe if they ate more protein they'd have enough energy to smile every now and again.