Independent Living

Now I have never represented myself as a genius, nor have I even thought of myself as one. However I know that I have more than two brain cells to rub together. Well this evening something happened that made wonder about how the intelligence of people.

I was just preparing my dinner when there was a knock at the door. It was quite a tentative knock so I was not even sure if there was someone there. The young woman at the door I had met yesterday when going round collecting my jars. She had just returned to live in the village and was living just down the road from me. We had spoken briefly mainly about cooking. So I was rather surprised to see her.

She had come round, as her new kettle was broken. As I knew that she and her partner had just moved in and lacked even the basics, I offered to lend her a pan so even if the kettle was broken they could still make some tea or coffee. Well I put a screwdriver and a spare fuse into a bag along with the old pan and making sure I had turned the rings off on my cooker I followed her down the hill to her house.

I could see that they had just moved in, but they had a games console set up and quite a posh TV. However, when I looked in the kitchen I had to ask if she or they had special educational needs? I asked gently as I could, and they acknowledged that yes they were educationally challenged. As what had happened was they had put the electric kettle on to the electric cooker. The obvious result was a melted kettle.

I helped peal the mess off the cooker and I left them the old pan to use, but I did say that I could not understand what they were thinking. It was not as though they did not have plenty of clear space on the bench where the kettle could have been placed. I left perplexed by the situation and after cooking my meal I called the acquaintance where I had met the woman the day before. She had a good laugh but I was more concerned about the safety of the neighbours. She promised to call the woman’s social worker tomorrow.

I don’t know what the whole story is here, but I really would not have believed that anyone could or would be left where they could try to put a plastic kettle on to an electric stove unless I had seen it myself.

Reminder to self: Don’t ask them to make tea for me!

However this incident raises an important point, this couple for reasons that I don’t know have received a grant or money from some government backed source so they can live independently, yet they seem to lack the skills needed to do so. While they are not obviously educationally challenged, they obviously lack the understanding of how basic appliances work. Yet they know enough to be able to play complex computer games. I may be being thick here but if they have come from an institution I would have thought that they would get some form of supported living before being able to set up a home together? As I have been talking about basic household skills, I would have presumed that had these young people been in care then equipping them with basic skills should have happened before? What sort of society do we have here?

This does not only stun me; I am shocked that two vulnerable young adults appear to have been abandoned in this way. I am all in favour of people being given and having independence, we all learn from mistakes too, I am left speechless by this. At least this young couple has one relative and now a friend to help them.

I started this post by questioning the intelligence of some people, but it is not the intelligence of this couple that needs questioning but of the people that sent them out into the world ill equipped to live.