It’s Possible For Someone To “Look Fine” But Not Be Okay To Work.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Republicans are considering tying working to Medicaid, and this quote stuck out to me:

“Why should somebody literally sit on the beach and surf, buy their sandwiches from the food truck with their food stamps and then pick up low-cost housing and so on, while writing a book,” — Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif

I know that people like that won’t read this or listen to me, but I think it’s worth saying for the rest of us: It’s possible for someone to “look fine” but still not be okay to work.

I personally know someone like this. I think your average Republican would say they’re lazy. But having any responsibility triggers this person’s anxiety, paranoia, and anger. They then want to sabotage whatever they’ve been asked to do. They might consider running away or vanishing entirely. They crash out so hard when they’re given a task. It takes so much effort for this person to literally do nothing. Their life is spent trying to calm down.

Someone can sit on the beach and have a disability or a crippling health condition. It actually doesn’t surprise me that someone could be in that situation…where they’re sitting on a beach, trying to write a novel, but also need Medicaid.