The money you get on disability is not enough to really have a decent life. But some people need it. It's not always the fact that a person can't physically work. Some people have chronic pain, or medical problems that leave them in limbo. Kind of like what I have going on right now. I have a few good days every month where I get my hopes up and think I can drive again. Then I do 3 hours of house work and working my bad leg/knee out and end up suffering for 2 days after that. Just because someone does some yard work doesn't mean that their bodies can perform in a commercial setting.
I haven't been able to bend down, stoop, or climb stairs properly for almost 16 months now. I have to do five complicated maneuvers just to get in and out if a cargo van/car. It takes me twice as long to take a shower and to get ready. I can't jump, run, sprint, or anything. My good leg is starting to wear down because it does all of the work for my bad leg. If I go into a rigurous work setting I'm going to accelerate the demise of what good parts I have left on my body. I get chest pains from where the clots were in my lungs, I get winded sometimes. What would you want disabled people to do? Just because you see me lifting a fifty pound box of bottled water four times a month when I feel good enough to do it, that doesn't mean I can unload an entire fiftythree foot trailer of the stuff.
Fortunately for me I had a pretty sizeable amount of savings in the bank when I got hurt. I can sit here for another 2 yaers on my own dime if I have to. But I've been waiting months for a full recovery and it doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon. I've been working in various jobs since I was 18 years old. I've paid thousands of dollars into the system. I think I'm entitled to get what was promised me in the event of a disability. I have a confirmed disability that is a real disability listed in the manual. It's not like trying to prove a mental problem. I have ultrasounds showing vein damage that leads to Post Thrombotic Syndrome and life long pain and reduced quality of life. There's no denying it.
I also see what Deville wrote. I used to think people with back pain were just making it up. Let me tell you I've experienced a few days of back pain due to my inability to bend. When you lift boxes and perform work duties where you are supposed to bend with your legs and can't, you do damage to your back. Back pain can be even more debilitating than the pain that I have in my legs. It can make even a short trip in a car unbearable. The body is very intricate and delicate. One small hiccup can destroy you for life. No one will ever understand what a disabled person has to go through until it happens to them, and I don't with that on anyone. But if one of you were to become disabled you'd be amazed at how fast your attitude will change towards your fellow disabled Americans.
"Not enough to have a decent life"????? I'm tink'in being able to eat and live indoors should count for something. EH?