‘I could burn you and there would be nothing you could do about it’

‘I could burn you and there would be nothing you could do about it’ Winston Smith described an ‘incident’ in which one of his clients (residents, service users, whatever) tried to *burn him to death* and he faced no consequence? Even if his managers care nothing about care workers then surely they should care about the other residents.

I get the impression that care workers are not treated with the respect they deserve in most sectors. They are the ones who spend the most time with ‘service users’ and yet when they voice their concerns to their ‘superiors’ they are dismissed. I noticed that when I was a patient in psych hospital. I spoke up when I saw a kind, compassionate nursing assistant who didn’t suffer fools gladly being given a dressing down by some G grade nurse who’d only been there for five minutes.

I’m wondering if their lack of concern for W.S. was due to the fact that he didn’t have a DipSW.

Fragmenting

My mother telephoned to say my aunt has cancer.  Something happened.  A few years ago.  A sorry, sordid little tale.  But she doesn’t deserve that.  No one does.  Everything is fragmenting around me.  Even Nobby is fading away.  Enjoy what you can while you can.  Apologies for the incoherence.

I gave this poem to Nobby just after our beautiful neighbour Jo died:

And death shall have no dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan’t crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

Mad Neighbours

I awoke to the sound of rain falling…inside my flat. The people upstairs had let their bath overflow, again. They did this yesterday. I rang the council to complain (after having approached my Neighbours From Hell) but to no avail although I was told I would be compensated for any damage caused. They are now playing their music at such a volume that I’d be surprised if the citizens of Australia cannot hear them. I am competing with mine – Suede’s first self titled album – let’s see how they enjoy that!

It looks like I have yet another Friendly Neighbourhood Psychopath™ on my hands. Doug came over and told me that the woman upstairs (who frequently makes enough noise to wake the dead) had gone nuts a few weeks ago and flooded the launderette. She had been taken away in an ambulance – to the ward I am usually admitted to, I presume. lucky thing! Last year she fell asleep in her bedroom, leaving a candle burning. My ex-boyfriend burst in and rescued her. I was at my desktop in the sitting room, listening to music through my earphones and so I didn’t hear a thing. Apparently, as this woman was being led into the ambulance a guy leaned out of his window and yelled out to Doug, ‘It’s all kicking off round here, en’t it. Don’t need the telly with all this going on!’

Such sensitive neighbours!

I know I should feel sorry for her, I know I should empathise. But I don’t.

Not after the ten Valium I’ve had to take because of her today.