From Mr C. Morris, MRPharmS
SIR,-In response to Mr Grabecki (PJ, June 24, p952), I am writing to apologise.
He says that all of the seven-children families he knows have a parent in paid work. Obviously St Albans is better off than any of the places I have lived or worked.
I have obviously been tarnished by seeing an endless procession of women come into shops where I work with four or more children signing "Income Support" on the back of prescriptions, getting Calpol on prescription because they cannot afford to buy it, handing over welfare milk tokens and complaining because their giro is late.
I can only speak from what I know and see. I often see people complain that child benefit is paltry; they also complain that dole cheques are paltry. But they do not pay rent on their houses. They do not pay council tax. They are often seen complaining about how little they have to live on while smoking in the pub.
Again, this is only what I have seen, so again, I may be wrong.
As to the "enormous commitment" of parents to their families, I must again plead ignorance, in the majority of cases. Again and again I see parents with no time for their children, in and out of work. In many areas where I work Phenergan is used as a baby-sitter.
Mothers regularly rebuke me for suggesting they take the time to get their obviously sick children to their general practitioner. Perhaps these comments are not worthy of a professional mind either but, yet again, I can only plead ignorance as this is what I have experienced.
My letter may have been a little over-the-top but I was excited to see someone with a similar viewpoint to one I have held for quite a while. Everyone these days seems to want their cake and eat it. They want power without power stations, cars without roads, and homes without building. To me this seems selfish and sad.
I apologise to anyone I might have offended with my letter. I never wanted to sound unprofessional. I only wanted to sound a warning.
Chris Morris Newquay