Hey there, Readers! We have done it! We've passed over 1k signatures! Sure, I do realise that I realistically need about 99k signatures for anybody to sit up and take notice but over 1k signatures is pretty significant considering I started this petition a little over a week ago! So, people do care about this issue! Awesome! And I see that I am getting a few responses to my updates that I have turned into a blog of sorts. Yes, as promised, I am now going to explain the reasonings behind my terminology. One or two people have criticised me for using what they see as "childish" name calling, 'Tricky Vicky' and 'Dim Tim' - crap female and male work coaches. However, there is more to it than that. Let me explain the mindset behind the terminologies, 'Tricky Vicky', 'Dim Tim' and more... THE USUAL SUSPECTS As you know from life there are people that you can funnel down into stereotypes... Look, if you believe in Astrology and Star Signs then you can see certain characterizations based upon our birthdays have been done already. Through the magic of the illusion of acting you will have noticed that there are several types of people that you are dealing with at your JCP. Naturally, you have complete and utter bastards/bitches, Jekyll and Hydes, well-intentioned, very moral and upstanding and sticklers to the rules.... And it could be that these roles are interchangeable depending on what kind of person a work coach has pegged you for. Here are my definitions for the sorts of DWP/JCP workers i.e. work coach and management. First up is... Tricky Vicky Tricky Vicky is a character who thinks that she is intelligent but is not. She also has delusions of grandeur because most of the time she's an older woman - perhaps in her late 50s early 60s. She feels that she carries some weight for the length of time that she has been there and she is not afraid to throw that weight around from time to time. This person is also very, very lazy. Not to be ageist but this is a woman that feels she has paid her dues early in life and at her age, she wants to cruise it as much as possible. She wants to make the least amount of effort. HOW TRICKY VICKY WILL TREAT YOU She doesn't listen to anything you have to say because she believes that she knows you. Of course, because she is too lazy to get to know who you are and what you can do, she is prepared to assume that you are the kind of person that does not want to work. Anything you tell her with regards to your "work activity" is taken with a grain of salt. She treats you as though you are a pathological liar. She has no real interest in the things you say because she is measuring you up for what she assumes to be easy work to get into. Tricky Vicky likes to use terminology such as, "You have transferable skills that you can take into another area..." If you happen to have skills, i.e. you are a chemist, she'll think that your skills that you studied hard for can be transferred into that of a cleaner or something as unskilled as that. No that there is anything wrong with being a cleaner. I like clean things. If I go to restaurant and I order food I expect it to be delivered on a clean plate. But you get my point, right? Tricky Vicky is looking for what she think is the easiest way to get you off her "books". Because she is lazy she will take your initiatives and pass them off as her own and in turn, she'll force you to do a substandard job on what you had intended to do. She thinks that taking the time out to do things right is a waste of time. But it is not; taking the time to present yourself right makes all the difference in the world. And because she is lazy, she will look for ways in which to get you sanctioned. This woman is very dangerous. She dangerous because she is deluded and she will drag you into her delusions and you will be paying for it in sanctions. Telltale signs that you have a Tricky Vicky: 01. She does not listen to you. She appears unable to understand simple concepts. 02. Because she does not understand simple concepts she's pretty stupid. Stupid people will do and say stupid things. It may come across as harsh but it is the truth. 03. She'll use really dumb manipulation tactics. For example, if she has enabled you to do a college course, "Do you know how much it cost to put you on that course?" She'll use anything she can to demoralise you into accepting positions that you are overqualified for. 04. She thinks that she is playing some sort of game every time you meet her... You say something positive and she'll turn it into a negative. You counter her negativity with positive affirmation and she looks for something else to be negative on. It's a really pointless game as you are not going to win. Tricky Vicky thinks she's got the upper hand and she'll start to put you in the line of fire to receive sanctions. 05. Any good initiative you come up with she will pass it off as her own and will turn it into something substandard. She will set tasks and completion times and it doesn't matter if you have been sanctioned and that you have had to put some effort into trying to overturn the sanction. No! Uh-uh! You must do what you are told to do even if it is pointless! What to do when you are paired up with a Tricky Vicky? 01. Remain calm - especially when she's trying to get a rise out of you by bringing up the subject of your age multiple times, "How old are you?" "What's your age again?" "You are a mature person..." She will be very quick to say that you are "hostile" from reacting with anger. She will try to get you banned from the JCP if she could. She'll take the risk with some people. I doubt she'd be brave to push a young man or woman's buttons as a person in his or her 20s would easily get the better of her if she provoked the person into losing his or her temper. 02. Do not waste any of your precious time in thinking that one day she'll be able to see you for who you are and what you can do. That is the mistake I made. I thought that she would stop playing the stupid games and allow me to shine and effectively take my future in my hands as opposed to letting Tricky Vicky push me in directions that I don't want or need to go in. You must make a formal complaint as soon as she offends you or behaves in the way that I have described above as she'll cause you to be serially sanctioned and that is freaking bad news! You can either say something along the lines of, "Sorry, we are just not working out. I need a work coach who can understand me..." Or just ask another member of staff to speak to either a line manager or general manager. 03. You must ensure that you ask for a new work coach when you speak to management. Do not kid yourself into thinking that your Tricky Vicky is going to be punished. No! Ha ha! Forget it! Well, if you know a good lawyer... In any event, they at the JCP see you as some kind of bottom feeder and that you deserve to be treated as the lowest of the low. They really believe that these draconian measures are ultimately for your own good. Obviously, you can apply the same measures to change any work coach that you are not happy with! And let me introduce you to Dim Tim... Dim Tim This character is rather sheepish. He knows he's doing crap but it doesn't stop him from doing it. Well, that's his job and he does it with a rather idiotic grin on his face that you just wanna slap off. The difference between him and a Tricky Vicky is that this guy is usually like a robot. His instructions are to carry out certain tasks that he is told to do. Now, it could very well be that some people need to be treated in a stern sort of way... Some people just do not want to work as they want a bit of a life... These are usually young adults from 18 to about late 20s; they have this feral appearance most of the time. I can only tell of what I see here in London. It appears that young unskilled people are hard characters to deal with as they want to do what young people do. Such unskilled youth might do well with a Dim Tim because he is programmed to think and give instructions regardless of what anyone thinks or has to say about what he is instructing them/people to do. This is where the "Dim" comes in... Dim Tim is not able to discern someone who is very motivated and able to work well on his or her own. Dim Tim will act like a robot sheepdog and will l repeat himself as though he is on a loop. The only way the loop will stop is if you acquiesce to his commands. A work coach like Dim Tim wants to earn extra money by placing the JCP clientele on things like the Mandatory Work Activity that is held by bodies/institutions that the government pays - Conservative friends - when people are forced to do some work activity to receive their welfare assistance. The Mandatory Work Activity is another stupid so-called incentive to get people back into work. Just focus on the naming of the initiative, 'Mandatory Work Activity'. The think tank (hee hee) behind this idea uses work as a punishment. Work isn't some kind of punishment or at least it shouldn't be viewed that way because people will also see work as a form of punishment and therefore be reluctant/resistant to do it. This is the dumb evil mindset of the average Tory. Anyway, tangent aside, your Dim Tims are used to funnel the clientele into these work programmes. Essentially, a Dim Tim is a robot. Fancy that! He's the precursor to the androids in the Sci-Fi movies. The government, DWP and JCP needs people like Dim Tim to let the clientele understand that they have little or no choice in deciding their future. Ironically, the Tories take a concentration camp approach to work, 'Arbeit macht frei' 'n' all. Yeah? If work is so exhilarating then why don't the Tories actually do some instead of scamming the public they have been elected to serve? Cough! Ahem! #Panamagate! Essentially, what the Tories are saying is that they are the elite ruling class and that the public must do as they are told. Is it any wonder that most right wing people are bloody stupid? How to spot if you have a Dim Tim. 01. He repeats himself a lot and he's giving you instructions that you do not understand because they do not apply to what it is you want to do and/or achieve. "You are doing it." 02. Related to point number 1, he's unable to listen and take in what you are telling him if your plan/idea differs from his instruction set. The answer would be a variant, "You can do what it is that you have in mind after you have done what I have told you to do." 03. If you refuse to do what he is telling you to do because you know that what you have in mind is better suited then he'll mark you down as uncooperative and will make sure that you get sanctioned. It could be a series of sanctions as these folk do not like to be contradicted. They will sanction you so hard that you will not have any welfare assistance at all. Not even housing! What to do with a Dim Tim. As with Tricky Vicky, you want to get rid of Dim Tim straightaway! You have to act faster as there is usually a timeframe that Dim Tim is running on. Essentially, Dim Tim wants to get as many people has he can on some work programme or another. The more people Dim Tim gets into those work programmes the more money he gets; this explains why he is seemingly unable to take in the fact that you have something better in mind that you know will help you find the kind of work that you want to do. Things like the Mandatory Work Activity is only good if you need to get some experience in work that you have never done before. But I strongly believe that such work experiences should be a voluntary thing and possibly linked to a local college. I also believe that there should be courses that allow you to play and build on your strengths. In any event, you need to drop Dim Tim like a hot potato. Do not waste any time thinking that you can get him to deviate from his programming. If Dim Tim has booked you on a course that does not agree with you then you need to be proactive and contact the institution that is holding the work programme such as the Mandatory Work Activity and let them know that you are unable to attend and why. Make sure that you keep a record of any communications that you have made to let the work programme organisers know that you are unable to come and why. This will help you win your tribunal. Dim Tim is like the Terminator - if only he'd stop grinning like an idiot - he feels no pity and no pain. He might, at best, feel rather sheepish about what he is doing; he feels sorry for himself and not what he is putting you through. He's been programmed to carry out instructions and that's what he'll do. Do not be fooled by his cool everyman demeanour as it gives a false sense that he could be on your side. Sadly, Dim Tim might have been a good guy once upon a time but he is so afraid of losing his job that he has lost the ability to treat people as individuals or even as a human! Do not trust him! Okay! That's the two main characters. I am going finish up for this session. I apologise in advance for spelling and grammatical errors as I am too tired to check what I have written. It's 01:28 in the morning and I am feeling it! Ha ha! Tomorrow I will introduce you to more characters - even some good ones! Catch you later! Take it easy! Yes, I know you have been sanctioned. If you, like me, have been sanctioned at least twice in a row you have to learn how to smile and think about the future. There is no point in giving into depression. Sure, it is easier for me to say because I am able bodied and I do not have any history of mental illness. Still, I urge you to remain as positive as you can under the circumstances as we will prevail and beat this nonsense. This is a terrorist attack on the vulnerable from a government that is supposed to be anti-terror. It is a sick joke! Hold tight!