My GOVERNMENT Co-Workers Kick Butt
I am one of the most negative persons about government, the inefficiencies, the laziness, etc (this is mostly targeted at POLITICIANS but the DMV and County of LA Child Protective Services do come to mind…)
With the stupidity of the Federal and CA State government’s budget problems, I am thoroughly pissed; I can’t spend more than I take in (or it catches up with me). And then some gov agencies (DWP comes to mind) are a bunch of executives that hold the customers (and LA gov) hostage.
But I need to give huge PROPS to the department I work for, and the people. really surprised me. These people have developed and are responsible for an application that could potentially save a child or an elderly person’s life- and the “Auditors” (clients who use our software) work incredibly hard, for not a lot of money compared to private sector. The staff developers are great too- know their craft and are extremely professional. I think one big bonus is that they have a real 40-hr work week- at the “Big Mail Company” if you only worked 40 hrs then you had time for 1 or 2 more projects- on salary- no joke at all.
My recent task was adding a “Child Death / Suspicious Death” checkbox and the associated EXPEDITED workflow to the “Complaint” form when that happens at a State-Licenced facility. It’s gonna suck when I start having to track how this new workflow is operating… it made me realize how important some of the government functions are- keeping Day Cares, Foster Homes, Adult and Elderly Care facilities safe is one of them that I am happy my tax dollars go to.
And this is one austere department- my computer at work sucks worse than a $400 e-Machines computer I could buy at Office Depot. I literally have to wait 15 min for some changes to work- it has 1 GB of memory if that tells you anything- all gov users here get same equipment on a 5 year “refresh” cycle (developers included- that might be biggest waste of $$$)- and we are on 4 1/2 years. I get super-pissed sometimes, but hey, they are definitely not wasting any tax money here. 
This contract is making me see government workers in a whole new light- “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover”….
Thank you for this post!!
‘…work incredibly hard, for not a lot of money compared to private sector.’
This. Could not be truer. Most of us swap higher pay now for security and better benefits down the road. Despite what is disseminated on talk radio shows and by certain pundits, we do NOT get to retire at age 50 with 100% of our pay and free health care. I work hard and pay a buttload for my crappy HMO and my taxes, just like everyone else.
I appreciate you recognizing that not *ALL* government workers are cubicle-dwelling tax sponges (though I do share your disdain for LADWP, they’re just scum….)
April 9th, 2011 at 12:45 amHey Lola- thank you for your comment. I always knew you were “gov” and wanted to find out more. I just had a bad opinion of gov more from media than personal experience. Too bad me never met at Oragami
All I know is the gov employees I’m working with are just amazing. The one thing I do see about gov inefficiencies already though is that they will get to 80% done on something and run out of money. Then hire me 2 years later. That’s where I’m at.
April 10th, 2011 at 4:15 pmbeneficial work
May 28th, 2011 at 3:49 pm