What's it like working in the government?
Having spend my adult life (35 years and counting) either as a government employee or supporting the government, I can honestly say that the government is populated with people just like us. We are a cross-section of the nation.
We have the smart, the average, and the dumb. We have the energetic, the average, and the lazy. We have the dedicated, the average, and the leeches. Just like any other large organization.
The government is made up of many many people who want to do a good job, but are often shackled under multiple layers of often conflicting laws, regulations, policy, and tradition. I have never met anyone working in the government who did not want the bureaucracy to go away.
Are government employees perfect? Not by a long shot. We reflect our nation's population right down the line.
"Just let me do my job" is a common complaint of many many government workers.
It is interesting and a little depressing to talk to people who have worked their way up to senior positions. They were all expecting to finally be in a position where they could make a change. Cut the bureaucracy, streamline things, get the right people and give them the right authority... cut the crap and get the job done.
All of them, that I have talked to, have been disappointed. In the government, there is always someone (or a group of someones) above you and always restrictive and often conflicting rules and regulations.
The government employees don't like and don't want all these regulations. Every single one was imposed by either executive or legislative authority. Most of the rules were implemented for very good intentions. Unfortunately, it is hard to remove an obsolete rule so the easy way is to just make another rule and now we have two conflicting rules on the books. Multiply this by a few thousand and you are starting to understand how the government works. And if we make a mistake, obsolete or not, we will be held accountable for every conflicting regulation. That's one of the charming aspects of the job.
There is no evilness in the government. Everyone's agenda is based on what they feel is the best solution. Sometimes they are right, somethings they are wrong. In the government, it is common to serve multiple masters many of which don't agree but we are expected to continue doing our job the best we can.
That's what it is like working in or with the government -- trying to do the best you can in a hostile environment. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. But we keep trying. In many cases our successes are unknown (news media does not make money reporting on government successes) and our failures are often publicized either by the media for revenue or by politicians for political reasons. Either really cares about the actual problem, only how they can use the outcome for their purposes.
It ain't glamorous, the pay is seldom that good (if I were to go back into the government, I would have to take a $30-50K pay cut), the golden benefits are becoming a thing of the past. But people still line up for that work. I am considering going back. People ask me why....
Working for the government is not as showy as being in the military. Almost everyone these days shows respect and appreciation for the military these days (was not always that way) . But most of the people working for the government are serving their country too. There are not medals, no parades, little recognition, appreciation, nor understanding from the citizens they serve.
But they still show up every day, and still go home frustrated.
Just a cross section of our country trying to do their job in a hostile uncooperative environment.
Yeah, I laugh at the government jokes, and even tell a few myself. But in a quiet way, I am as equally proud of my government service as I am of my military service.
The take away is that the government is not some face-less soul-less remote entity. It is people like us... people like me. Your next door neighbour and a bunch of people you will never know.
To paraphrase John Updyke: Being a government employee "is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client; still, one must make the best of the case...."
Just on observation from an old guy.
