Just a thought

Any irritation that I had with my neighbour's attitude stemmed from the fact that she was condemning a group of people about whom she knew nothing. Contrary to your assertions that bags, I know a great deal about my neighbour, certainly a great deal more than she knows about all the immigrants that she so roundly condemns.

But it's a hole...!

(that was to bags)

"...could never manage to ride a bike..."

Oh dear!

I did not make any assertions about what you know about your neighbour, outofstep. I queried what you claimed to know. You have answered my query.

What you say your neighbour was saying about immigrants is indeed bad, as I've already said twice. I have no problem with your condemning what she said, as I have also made clear more than once.

jings and ann, I was never in a hole (see the IF statement up thread) and never will be while defending someone who isn't here to defend herself. I did not defend what she said about immigrants. Nor did I attack the OP; I attacked what the OP said about her neighbour.

I was just wondering what the poor woman is meant to do, other than go to her GP, if she has numerous health issues?

I stand condemned / corrected for my lack of understanding and not interpreting posts properly ie reading between the lines. Must do better. But then my school reports probably did always say that.

Outofstep, so I repeat my post of 18.43pm Has she got special needs?

For most of my married life I have not had paid employment but I would be very angry if someone suggested I had not worked. Stay at homes do all the childcare,care of elderly relatives, I even cleaned my sister's home and did her ironing because she had to work full time. DS once suggested I should get a job and not bludge on his father

If I find myself in a nasty critical mood I try, not always with success, to remind myself what ( I think) Martin Luther King said: " Never look down on anybody unless your're helping them up." My problem is not with the illiterate and the poor, but with the smug richies who blunder through life with such confidence and assurance, sneering at those less fortunate. "What does it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul"

For heavens sake. Enough of this hysteria. !!!!!

Surely it is hardly emmolient to be wearing a provocative badge? We should all be 'getting over it' by now and looking forward to the future together. Nothing is going to be done for the good if the Remain camp cannot accept the decision of the democratic vote. If their concerns had been at least listened to and something done to address their justifiable fears instead of their being labelled 'bigot', 'racists' and fascists', perhaps things could have been different.

I am convinced that one of the reasons that the left was defeated in the last election was their abuse of the silent majority and their conflation of ordinary, decent, hardworking, taxpaying people with extremists.

In the same way, the abuse of the Brexiteers by the Remainers is at the heart of the problem which caused the 'out' vote in the first place.

We do not and cannot live in a Utopia. We habe the real world to deal with and hatred and abuse are no way forward.

Take off the badge and make your neighbour a cup of tea. She's probably Ok, if somewhat defensive. And if she does use the NHS then that's her right as her family, through her husband, is paying taxes to maintain it, unlike many others.

WE really are all in this together.

Soryy, emolient, not emmolient.

Have, not habe. Sorry.

I'm getting worried now. I can't ride a bike....

I voted OUT as I'm fed up of being bullied by Europe, I don't have a racist bone in my body,I am entitled to my opinion and think in the long run it will be best for Britain. I wouldn't wear a badge saying so at the moment as I feel some fellow countrymen have become bully's towards brexiters and it's not a very nice way to treat another human being. Phew had to get that off my chest

Several points to answer. Obleone - no, not special needs. Lilyflower - she was having a cup of coffee with me when she embarked on her tirade and thirdly, of course she has a right to visit her GP frequently, but she should not condemn others for doing the same, merely because they were not born in Britain.

P.S. I wear my badge because I feel pretty helpless, I voted Labour all my life & got a Conservative government, I voted "In" & the Out" vote won. I believe in democracy, but no doubt we will soon have an unelected PM, so I feel unrepresented. My username might give a clue as to my pessimism and gloom concerning he state of affairs. It's probably a futile gesture, but at least I can't be blamed if things go tits up. Even if the economy etc. does improve, it will probably not be in the lifetime of us oldies.

As I said in another thread . . . I remain deeply saddened by the highly invective rhetoric and polarisation that is happening across the nation, and within all communities

Every bugger and his dog at one time or another is not represented by those they voted for.

It's called democracy.

I believe in one race - the Human race. I can't condemn anyone who tries to get a better life for their family - so would I given the circumstances that some refugees are having to tolerate. That said, how does anyone think that this tiny island can just keep on accepting hundreds of thousands of people who are straining health, education, transport etc, beyond coping? I read today that the enormous surge in the birth rate is 75% due to immigrants; what kind of effect will this have on us all in a few years? I have a teacher friend who now has, in her class of 28, fourteen children who cannot speak English. Is the answer to just let people keep on coming until this island sinks, or do we perhaps try to limit immigration and help people where they are by building homes and schools in countries ravaged by war? To keep yelling 'racist' at people who suggest other solutions to an open door policy is just downright stupid - try 'realist' instead.

I'm with you Rosina....there comes a time when you have to say 'enough is enough'

The trouble is, to quote Will Self, "not all who vote Leave are racists, but all racists will vote Leave." There is absolutely no doubt that an ugly taint of xenophobia has run throughout the campaign. (And if you are in any doubt, just wander onto the Daily Mail's online pages...Check out the "Comments" section in particular.) Many people have been motivated by nothing more profound than a deep hatred of anyone perceived to be an immigrant. Anyone whatsoever - not just EU migrants, but also anyone who looks different. Hence the abuse that some Asian people have received, along the lines of "you've got to go back where you came from." (Do some people actually think the Indian sub-continent is part of the EU?) Others clearly think they have voted to keep out Syrian and Afghani refugees...again, since when have those countries been part of Europe?

The most scary thing is the prospect of "referendum contagion", whereby the whole union fractures and far-right, nationalist groups rise to power after successful campaigning on racist platforms. That's not just a left-wing nightmare - some very sober, conservative economists have warned against it, and there is a very real danger that it could happen. We could again face the horror of fascist governments in Europe, and the nations at each other's throats. Maybe not right away, and it may be that our children are the ones who have to face it, but we will be the ones who started the ball rolling.

Yes Bluecat - sentiments like that are exactly why I posted message in the first place. I share your fear of the rise of the ultra right. They may be in a minority, but a vocal and aggressive minority can so easily sway the views of people like my neighbour who are governed by fear and ignorance.

I never worked after I was married just after I left the WAAF in 1946. In those days most wives were housewives. I did all the gardening, grew all our vegetables, did all the decorating, made all my and daughters dresses and coats, knitted all our woollies as well as looking after the children. Was a keen member of the WI and did voluntary work at the mental hospital. I probably worked harder that those who sat all day on their bums in offices and paid others to do a lot of things.