Traveler Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I read an article about a story in a journal about an older man that lived in Virginia trying to get home. He was by a river and it was getting late in the day. The river was high and there was not a bridge and the old man was not sure he could get across when several men came by on horseback. As the group was crossing the river one of the gentlemen on horseback returned and asked the old man if he needed help crossing. The old man said yes. The gentleman took the old man on his horse and crossed the river. Still concerned with the old man the gentleman asked where the old man was going. Realizing it would be long past dark before the old man reached his home the gentleman told the others to go ahead and he would catch up later.The gentleman took to old man home and dropped him off when the old man asked the gentleman of such high principles who he was and commented that the world needed more kind men like him. The gentleman responded that he was Andrew Jackson – president of the USA.The Traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxel Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I like that anecdote, whether it's real or not. The underlying philosophy of a lot of low-echelon government workers seems to be "I don't care". Compounded with a beaurocracy that generates more red tape than service, one has a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazed-and-confused Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 government jobs have long been a haven for the lazy and incompetant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Not as much has changed as one might think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hordak Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 government jobs have long been a haven for the lazy and incompetant.Actually i think it is due to the fact that most government jobs have no competition and therefor we are forced to deal with them so they get more complaints/ you see more problems. Don't like the local grocer, go down the road, hate the service given at restaurant x go to restaurant y. Don't like the DMV, your stuck, suck it up and complain about government workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Blaylock Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Actually i think it is due to the fact that most government jobs have no competition and therefor we are forced to deal with them so they get more complaints/ you see more problems. Don't like the local grocer, go down the road, hate the service given at restaurant x go to restaurant y. Don't like the DMV, your [sic] stuck, suck it up and complain about government workers. Or government-based education systems, which are creating an increasingly-illiterate population. For example, we have more and more people who don't even know the difference between “your” and “you're”. It gets much, much worse than that, but this is the example that was staring me right in the face as this thought was forming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) government jobs have long been a haven for the lazy and incompetant. I get offended when I hear this. I worked for the government for 18 years and worked my butt off. In addition to everyone else I worked with. In fact was the first person in one of my positions that scored 100% on annual inspection. Not only once but 5 years in a row. Edited June 30, 2009 by pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahone Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) government jobs have long been a haven for the lazy and incompetant.I doubt it's due to the subordinate staff or even middle management. Upper management putting unrealistic targets on their staff with no-where near enough budget or manpower is likely the root problem, along with complete lack of organisation at the top. Unfortunately the subordinate staff then have to take the brunt of their customers anger, when it's not their fault. Edited June 30, 2009 by Mahone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 While its probably not a big reason for people part of it is also probably unrealistic expectations from the populus. "What do you mean you can't do that? You're the government!" While it wasn't government service I'm sure some lady thought I was petty and unhelpful when I wouldn't break the rules working at a contract Post Office. Some of those rules if I'd broken them would get me fired, a few would have gotten a visit from Federal Authorities and possible fines and jail time. If you want me to do something against the rules or the really big rules known as laws it really is not my problem, it's yours. Now you probably have just as many unhelpful people in the government service as out of it, I don't think part of the civil service test is compassion just like it isn't part of being in tech support, or customer service or what have you. Also I imagine after a while in government service you are going to get jaded people, just like you have otherwise nice folks who work in customer service who have lost hope for humanity through being forced to deal with certain segments of it. Of course I just dealt with a very helpful and understanding person in the county clerks office just the other day so I'm biased at this point in time, catch me when I've been back from the DMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Pam, I can't think of one gov. employee who doesn't think they're a hard worker. Most gov. employees when faced with "cut backs" will fight tooth and nail for their job no matter what the general public thinks or what the financial numbers say. Pretty much ALL gov. employees are of the entitlement mind set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) Pam, I can't think of one gov. employee who doesn't think they're a hard worker. Most gov. employees when faced with "cut backs" will fight tooth and nail for their job no matter what the general public thinks or what the financial numbers say. Pretty much ALL gov. employees are of the entitlement mind set.And most employees in other sectors when faced with cut backs won't fight tooth and nail for their job no matter what the financial numbers say? Edited June 30, 2009 by Dravin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 When there is no money or no need/desire for your position then you need to suck it up and get on with life. Here is a perfect example of what I'm talking about: My small town of about 5000 people has a youth correctional facility run by the state. Approx 50 employees. The state of OR is not in good shape financially so surprisingly they are looking to cut back(shocker , I know) anywhere they can. Our facility is not competitive at all in terms costs per bed when compared with other facilities in more populated parts of the state. So naturally they decided to close it down. Now since we have one the highest unemployment rates in the country at about 20% , people got mad and petitioned to keep it open. It remains to be seen if it will stay open. These people are the same people that complain about gov. waste and bad fiscal policy yet when the state makes a responsible decision for a change they reverse their attitude because it will actually affect them. That is called double standard. Its BUll on the employees part. We have a similar situation with our employment dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) When there is no money or no need/desire for your position then you need to suck it up and get on with life. This applies to both the public and the private sector as does the desire to not lose ones lively hood and be kicked to the curb, it is not a phenomenon unique to the public sector. If you think people have never protested the closure of a private facility because of the jobs lost you are uninformed.Edit: A quick Google of "plant closure protest" should inform you of this not being a phenomenon limited to the public sector. I make no claims as to whether they should protest or not, but the desire to keep your job is universal. Edited June 30, 2009 by Dravin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Why did the plants close to begin with? What was the cause of the fiscal short fall? Do we see protests of private sector businesses who's business model simply does not work? Are these people protesting the owners or are they protesting the gov. restrictions/taxes that made owners cut back? Gov. employees basically gripe to the "owner"/gov. for putting them out of a job. Why? The only reason gov. employees feel their job is necessary is because its necessary for them to receive a paycheck. Does this happen in the private sector? probably however I doubt its on a scale seen in the public sector. We have a large bureau of land management complex here and every last person there is convinced his/position is vital when in reality we could do a far better job as a county without a single one of them. Same goes for the forest circus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) Why did the plants close to begin with? What was the cause of the fiscal short fall? Do we see protests of private sector businesses who's business model simply does not work? Are these people protesting the owners or are they protesting the gov. restrictions/taxes that made owners cut back?How is any of this relevant? People don't want to lose their jobs and some of them are willing to complain and take action to keep it. Are you seriously denying this?probably however I doubt its on a scale seen in the public sector.Sweet, lets see the data. You ever hear of something called confirmation bias? You remember the unhelpful and entitled people more than the helpful ones thus the stereotypes of unhelpful people, the incidents with the helpful nice ones who are doing their job are quickly forgotten. That's why customer service and bending over backwards for people is so stressed in some industries even in some cases of righting a wrong that never happened and letting the customer walk all over you, people receive prompt courteous service and may mention it to one person, they feel wronged however and they'll avenge themselves telling everyone they can about how horrid your company is.The interesting thing about this all is I'll agree that there are plenty of entitled unhelpful people in government service (just like there are a ton out of it), I just disagree with the size of the brush you are painting with. We have a large bureau of land management complex here and every last person there is convinced his/position is vital when in reality we could do a far better job as a county without a single one of them. Just like you are convinced their positions are completely without worth, now of course you're the one without a bias and they're the ones with the bias. This is obvious because... well you say so!I have to give you kudos though, you all but accused Pam of being full of it, and that takes a lot of... something.P.S. If you let your obvious disdain show through when dealing with people employed in the public sector it wouldn't surprise me if you had an inordinate amount of unhelpful people, if somebody was dealing with me with obvious disdain and possibly even going so far as to outright accuse me of being an entitled unhelpful leech I'd probably stonewall'em too. Edited June 30, 2009 by Dravin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I call it like I see it. I have to deal with state and fed all the time concerning land and it is ludicrous the money and time these people waste without a second thought. Thinking about this more I would have to say unions may have the edge over gov. in terms of pure inefficiency and entitlement. I actually am able to get quite a lot done as far as navigating the bureaucracy. All you have to do is stroke their egos and let them think they(their job) are an important part of society. Predictable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moksha Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Talk about Government Workers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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