There is a term called Rock Bottom, a kind of reaching the end of the line, bothering on desperation, unsure of your next move.
These days I feel very much cornered, not because of lack of trying, but it’s about the many doors that are shut in your face.
If you cannot generate enough cash resources to deal with today’s basic needs, then you may be sinking into a hole of no return.
Basics today should be about having a secured shelter, clothing to wear, being able to adequately feed yourself. I am talking about healthy living, dealing with basic amenities such as water, electricity, telecommunications, internet services, cable vision and in some cases an entertainment allowance.
Not included in that cluster is the use of a vehicle, health needs, insurance coverage, maintenance allowances, in some cases, alimony — and the additional support you may have to give to friends, family and loved ones.
Without living an extravagant lifestyle, these are all humanistic needs and to achieve them is quickly becoming a challenge for more and more people.
The cost and price of goods and services have escalated to beyond normal cost and it is becoming impossible to pay to keep these basic comforts based on your earnings on a month-to-month basis. You in most cases earn less than can meet your needs, there is no or little consideration from the supplier and discounts are only offered if the item has reached an expiration date or the item is faulty or defective.
Then what are your options? How are you supposed to cope? What aspect of life must you do without? What sacrifices must you make? And how do you change yourself to become who you are not?
Our tomorrow seems to be heading in one direction, the world dictates our path — and to keep-up with the Jones’s is an uphill battle. We spent a bundle to get schooled, pay all our taxes, plus our NIS dues and requested fees to the establishment.
We did all that could be done in supporting the system, inclusive of being obedient to the Law, but now it seems that we are all being shafted, and it is only the select few who can ride-out that tide.
When you have aged and are no longer considered youth, or so-called “retired”, you seem to have acquired a death sentence and you are left to die while still alive, as Buju Banton would say “Buried alive!” You get no favours, no loans, or grants, not even insurance coverage, no friends and in some cases no family support, no job openings, no inroads, no support of any type — in fact all you have is No’s.
You wonder where you went wrong, why your goodness has not been favored, where is the Church, the State, the Family, where are the human rights activists, where is your support supposed to come from?
Only one thing remains sure and that is that soon others will grow old as well — and they too will recognize your woes. Some have contributed greatly, some are referred to as ‘founding fathers’, the backbone of the system, the working class, the innovators, the builders and so on, and yet, as life would have it, we as humans all must go through stages, from being infants, then young adults, into senior citizens and finally into old men and women, then we transcend.
But between sixty and beyond the task of survival is becoming humongous, a solid bother of stress, mistreatment, and neglect, yet we still pray and hope that God will hear our prayers and mankind will be more tolerant of our presence and the State will be more compassionate.
Wow! Who feels it knows it…