Too proud to be disabled?

I have been meaning to write this for a while now and as I have just come in from a morning out and I'm a bit tired and grouchy I decided the time was right. I love twitter, I love the interaction with people , especially the social side for me now that I'm stuck in a lot of time , I like to read the tweets, the different blogs, and the numerous articles that one can find on twitter. But over recent months some of the comments on twitter itself and some of the blogs that I've been following are starting to make my hackles rise, mostly these are blogs and comments I see from sick and disabled people like myself. At first these blogs and comments in this economic climate and the feeling of hate towards us were full of fighting talk,disgust at what was happening to us, a coming together of the little strength that we have to enable us to offer support to each other. But I have noticed the tone has changed, more and more I'm noticing that disabled and sick people seem to be apologising for their illness or disability , apologising or feeling ashamed for things that they have in their homes , feeling the need to justify having a television, a smart phone, a games console or anything else that they no longer feel eligible to own.Well let me tell you I'm not ashamed, I'm not ashamed to be disabled, neither am I ashamed to want to own nice things. I refuse to hide the fact that I have a smart phone, I refuse to have somebody who is well enough and lucky enough to still have a job tell me what I can and can't own. Becoming disabled has not made me a second class citizen, why should I be expected to live a lesser life than somebody who works 9 to 5 ? And no Mr taxpayer you are not paying for my lifestyle now , I worked for 25 years and not once did I look at a disabled or a sick or an unemployed person and think to myself I am paying for this person . What has happened to this world to make people so heartless? so fearful? could it be that they themselves are scared? scared that they may one day find themselves in this very position?
Only financial restraints imposed on me by the pittance that is benefits will dictate to me what I buy, not someone else's opinion or some misplaced guilt or a mistaken belief that I am no longer worthy of owning nice things. Yes I am disabled, no I can no longer work , but I am still an important part of society and I hold my head high.

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