We've come to the conclusion that there are some - not all we stress - but some currently living on a form of government financial assistance who just don't want to work. Work's a four letter word to them, as the (very) old joke goes.

Take Struggle Street, Taree, as a prime example. Exhibit A, if you will (we've been watching the series Perry Mason on PayTV so excuse the legalese).

All looks pristine from the outside. Those scurrying past often remark at the neatness of the place, what with the manicured lawns and all. We pay to have the lawns attended to, we quickly add.

However, looks are deceptive. For the interior of Struggle Street is an unholy mess. The cockroaches have even stormed out in protest over the poor conditions.

Struggle Street hasn't had a decent clean for more than 12 months. The most recent effort was mentioned on this page, the regular reader would recall.

However, we copped considerable flak on social media in the aftermath for contravening child labour laws - the herculean task was performed by a mother and her then nine-year-old daughter. This correspondent supervised. Oh, and we also found an old Bee Gees Greatest Hits DVD to serenade them while they toiled. It was an morning/afternoon rich in mother/daughter bonding.

Indeed it was so rich that we decided against having to pay them for we thought money might debase the moment.

However, circumstances change and the mother/daughter combo is no longer available for cleaning commitments.

So we turned to a close acquaintance, who we understand will soon be applying for the Old Age Pension (OAP). We reasoned that a bit of cash-in-hand would be invaluable in these troubled times for someone on a fixed income.

The extra bit of money might enable her to add bread to the dripping for her nightly repast, we figured.

We expected to be lauded for our generosity. We were well off the mark there.

The offer was rejected in no uncertain terms. That was after five or so minutes of raucous laughter that followed our offer of what we considered to be a more-than-reasonable rate of payment. This caused some heated debate.

"Struggle Street will remain in squalor,'' we protested.

"Exactly what are we supposed to do about that?''

"Well,'' came the reply.

"You could always do some house work yourself. Or at least offer more than 50 cents an hour to have the dump cleaned.''

Isn't that just typical. These pensioners are always crying out for more money.

No wonder the country is roo... sorry struggling.