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This is a question Driven to Madness

Captain Placid asks: What annoying things do significant others, workmates and other people in general do that drive you up the wall? Do you want to kill your other half over their obsessive fridge magnet collection? Driven to distraction over your manager's continued use of Comic Sans (The Font of Champions)? Tell us.

(, Thu 4 Oct 2012, 12:11)
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Jam-roll Breeding Farms.
My missus has a mate (well more of a person she occasionally scores some MASSIVE DRUGS off.)
This friend of hers is a single mum. Whose teenage son recently got suspended from school for truancy and pulling a knife on another (female) student. She had him when she was a teenager.

This woman has lived in state subsidised housing and been on the jam roll for many, many years now. & when she's not been living in state housing she's lived with her parents.
In fact when she has had a job she's only worked a few hours so as not to earn too much and then become ineligible for her (very cheap) state housing. Even when she has studied at Tech (Horticulture - so she can grow better pot!) she has been on welfare.

In the recent months she began dealing (& doing) "hard" drugs. She happily boasted to my missus about how she was earning 10's of thousands of dollars a month.
Until the cops turned up at her place while she was out and presented her son with a warrant. I don't think she'd figured that all the other people in her block of state houses didn't really appreciate the regular comings and goings at all hours.
She's a little more circumspect about it now I guess.

About 5 months ago she became pregnant. Even she admits she isn't really sure who the father is but doesn't care and is in no rush to find out as once she has this baby she will pretty much assured of never having to work in her adult life again as she will once again become a "single mother" and will be given all sorts of monies & benefits by the government for being so.
She is quite upfront and cynical about this as she could see that her son will soon be flying the coop and then she would have no reason/claim to live in subsidised housing or claim the dole.

My missus knows how I feel about this woman. Not really much else to say.
(, Mon 8 Oct 2012, 23:49, 9 replies)
Maybe you could fix her up with Monty
she sounds just his type
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 10:17, closed)
Surely buying anything off this woman is just helping perpetuate the situation?
I'm not claiming to stand on any moral high ground about her drug dealing, but her income is undeclared, so she can continue to claim state benefits.

I try to resist paying anyone "cash-in-hand" as I know they're just avoiding tax and national insurance. Seeing 40% of my salary deducted each month makes me wonder how much the self employed "discount for cash" types are fleecing this country.

It even annoys me when the corner shops don't ring up a sale on the till.
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 10:57, closed)
Trust me.
Not my choice.
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 11:52, closed)
How do you *know*
that they're not paying NI and/or tax?

I pay my cleaner in cash which she declares. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with her not declaring it.
I have a friend who was suspended from the NHS because a member of the public complained about her. She was reinstated when the claim was found to be unfounded. Length of time off work with full pay? Nearly 10 months. Ten months full pay, and having to pay the other workers overtime to cover her shifts.
When our money is squandered like that (one isolated incident), I can appreciate why someone might want to take the cash-in-hand and NOT give any to a wasteful government.
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 12:54, closed)
Obviously I don't know everyone is avoiding tax this way.
I do know a number of builders, for example, that keep two sets of books for declared and real earnings. One, earning over £35k about 20 years ago, paid less in tax for a year than I did in a month.

I've often been quoted much lower estimates for paying cash to tradesmen as well. I wonder why?

An investigation a few years back went into a large number of corner shops to buy items and see if they were entered via the till. A large percentage weren't - which is illegal. It's a known scam to avoid paying income tax and VAT.

I should think that plenty of us would like to get cash-in-hand for doing work, but if you're PAYE you just don't get a chance.

Lower wage earners I should think are less frowned upon doing this than the big time earners.
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 13:35, closed)
Is it me, or
...does suspending someone from school for truancy seem somewhat ironic?
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 12:51, closed)
No, it is quite ironic
But it was just before school holidays as well.
Maybe he isn't as dumb as it first may seem....
(, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 21:56, closed)

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