Good for you.
On the other hand, in our encounters with federal employees, most of us have experienced something like the following:
1. Needing an answer for a farm labor question, I went to the offices of the Wage & Hour Division of the Labor Department in Montgomery, AL. I arrived at the office building where they were renting space at 11:30 AM.
2. I opened the door and was confronted with a sea of desks -- 46 of them, all told -- and every one of them empty. Not a soul in the office. At 11:30 AM. Lunch hour?
3. In the interest of an aroused curiosity, I decided to hang around...wandering thru thee offices, reading the notices on the bulletin boards, etc. Noon came. 12:30 came. 1 PM came...still no employees returning from lunch "hour".
4. At 1:18, the door opened and another person entered the otherwise vacant office. I came out of the "break area" and was greeted with "Whatchudoin' heah? You don't belong heah!"
5. I explained my situation, needing an answer to a farm labor question, and that I had been referred to this office. "He not heah. You gonna haf to leave!" When will he be back? "Dunno. Call'n'ask." There's no answer, what shall I do? "Idunno...notmyprollem...getouttaheah!".
6. At that point, three other "public servants" entered the office. Their demeanor reinforced the suggestion that I wasn't welcome in "their" territory. I left.
7. Subsequently, I was able to arrange a meeting with the supervisor of the Wage & Hour Division of the Labor Department in Montgomery, AL. It was a late afternoon...and about half the desks were filled. In response to my question, I was advised that he couldn't give me an answer -- since he didn't know how the new regulations would be interpreted or enforced. I was advised to make my own decision and be prepared to pay the penalty in the event the regulation was interpreted and enforced differently from my own.
The next time I have to deal with a federal official, I hope it's you -- but my experience is that it will more likely be along the above lines.
Thanks for what you do. A pox on everybody else in the bureacracy.
Perfect illustration.
I’m old enough to remember when public servants actually lived up to the name, were proud of it and honored for it.
Now we work for them, and are often scorned for doing so.
Worse still? It’s coming soon to a doctor’s office near us all.