Everything - well nearly everything - is right in this country

BUT it isn't nirvana. Where is?

This is not a political thread but I must reply to Luckygirl,

The examples you gave are not an appropriate comparison are they ?

We HAVE to have food. We HAVE to have some shelter. We HAVE to have some form of heating,

However, we don’t HAVE to have children if we are unable to provide for them .

I repeat...... Only have the children you can afford.

Back to the thread. I love the history here. Our castles are second to none and we have some magnificent stately homes cared for by the National Trust.

So much to be thankful for here.

Manners. People all over the world love how polite we are ?
I mentioned this subject to 2 of the volunteers in the charity shop where I work. These 2 women really are on their uppers but both agree that they wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Next door to my daughter there is an Albanian family, their youngest son is severely autistic. Not only is she amazed that there is a school for her son to attend but truely truely grateful to myself and my daughter for helping her with the bureaucracy involved with getting transport to this school.
She can't believe how lucky 'most' of us are.

Luckygirl

yep

Only have children if you can afford them - quite right! And of course only have food if you can afford it; only have heating if you can afford it; only have a roof over your head if you can afford it.

And if you cannot afford these: get thee to a gutter and die quietly, and do not disturb the peace of those who have the good fortune to be comfortably off.

Thank you Opal for such an uplifting thread, despite the moaners, some people will never be happy!
I have enjoyed reading all the positive vibes and agree with them, we are very lucky to live here.

The figure of 135,00 children WW2 quotes from Shelter, includes those in temporary accommodation.

“Only have children if you can afford then”

We would all like Utopia, that does not exist anywhere, in the UK the system encourages more children, there is lots of help for women with children and a single parent with kids goes to the top of the council housing list.
Her sister with no kids will work long and hard to get the same housing renting privately.

For what it's worth...I live in the North East and I love the coastline, the history and heritage of the area.
I like standing at a bus stop and chatting to people. I love our libraries and museums.
I work in criminal justice and for all the faults in our system, it is one of the best in the world, I believe!
I like seeing the best in people who have helped those in trouble.

Opal says to ignore the doom mongers. I was wondering whether to report them for going off thread
Can I add bread and butter pudding to the food list.

While I agree the UK is a lovely place to live, it is not great for everyone.

For example. I have to move abroad to earn enough to save for a pension, because I won't have my UK pension until 67 (and possibly older, given recent talk of 75).

In China, where I have previously lived, YES, they suffer with the pollution and do not have the freedoms we have, BUT women there retire at 50.

So. I'm enjoying my last month in the UK. The clean air, the good food, my family. BUT it isn't nirvana.

opal This was a lovely thread and a pleasure to read all the positive posts, but now WWM2 has popped up with all her political negativity, and turned it into something quite different. I came on here to get away from her comments on other threads. Sigh.

On way to West London shopping centre we passed a person who had fallen on the pavement. We were going to pull over to help but then realised that someone was already by her, a large 4x4 had stopped just beyond and a dustcart had pulled up opposite and a young dustman in a high viz jacket was sprinting across the road to help. We felt we would be in the way and carried on, but what wonderful humanity was shown there! Sure it would happen in other countries too, but it was good to see it here. ?

david figures from Shelter

Well forgive me if I I’m wrong but I thought it was the job of parents to provide housing for their children not the State.

Only have children if you can afford them.

WHY is it necessary to make such an obvious statement ?

There is no such thing as equality and the gap is widest of all in third world and developing countries. India you have fabulous wealth alongside total destitution. There are always going to be those that for one reason or another are poor, food banks are now widespread, even in my very upmarket town. The basics of food are cheap enough, it’s housing, heating and transport that is too expensive along with unreliable low wages, so of course people will use them.

I’m not sure where the figure 135000 children homeless comes from, maybe those in temporary accommodation. That’s a housing problem, are we ever going to solve that with the population increasing by 250000 each year?.

Orderly queuing! Unknown in very many countries, I have bruises to prove it.?

In any case, with your near automated messages of doom you are turning posters off massively ( and your cause)!

Your list of things that are wrong in the UK is very suspect WWM2 including the claims about the police.My SIL is a policeman and he takes all his leave and very rarely does any overtime, the reason being that so many policemen like it, double pay for some days.He has a whole week off over Christmas.This is Thames Valley, not some rustic backwater.

This is something that isn’t terribly good happening in the U.K.

Three weeks before Christmas and there are 135000 children homeless.

And pie, mash and liquor from the East End -hmm, I seem to be getting hung up on food . Oh, and Cadbury's chocolate!

True, David, we remember the good times - but things really have got worse. The inequality, food banks, children in poverty, uncertainty, homelessness etc. in such a rich country seems so unnecessary. Surely, the general public must be aware of the way things are going?

“But it doesn’t feel as good as it used to”

We all have fond memories of how it used to be, forgetting the hardships along the way, for most of us quality of life is better and we are living longer.

pinkquartz we ALL know the NHS isn't free, but it is free at the point of delivery which what previous posts are referring to. I don't think we need to be splitting hairs here. This thread is about gratitude and kindness.

well I wanted to put Libraries on my list but ours closed down.