do you think majority of the public despice...

I don't hate them. Or despise them. First hating something is a lot of work. And I'm fundamentally lazy. Second of all, hating someone for working for the government just sounds kinda stupid to me. Now, I'll cop to being lazy, but I draw the line at lazy and stupid.

DF, you're assuming most people are government hating like you. They aren't.

Written by Gypsy » May 11th, 2012, 12:11 am:I don't hate them. Or despise them. First hating something is a lot of work. And I'm fundamentally lazy. Second of all, hating someone for working for the government just sounds kinda stupid to me. Now, I'll cop to being lazy, but I draw the line at lazy and stupid.

I'm with Gypsy.

I fall into the trap of answering your questions often DF, but I should know better.

I'm always grimly amused at the massive hypocrisy of the situation where those who claim to hate government the most usually have spent their whole lives sucking at the government teat (public schools, military, GI Bill, state gov, fed gov) , or have family who make their living doing the same. And then I giggle some more when they get all indignant that the government cuts they've been screaming for, result in pay freezes, benefit cuts, and threats of RIFS for themselves. The "waste" always seems to be somewhere ELSE in the government, never THEIR area! Gads!

And no, "people" don't despise government workers. Stupid individuals who get spun up by frothing talking heads into hating groups of people that they lump together, do. And since (according to one source I read - Gallup) no less than 12% of workers in any U.S. state report working for the government, there must be a LOT of hate AND self-loathing going on.

And remember, there are MANY more government contractors than actual FTE's. They do the lion's share of the actual work, and constitute a semi-permanent shadow government work force. They are, effectively, government workers too.

Dingdingdingdingding to Danny and KSinger!

Also ... fill in "government workers" with just about any other class of people. Unless we are using a criminal class - "do you despise 'rapists'" and such - I'm pretty happy to answer in the negative. I'd have to start some serious therapy if I could say I really "despised" anybody for their profession, political affiliations, religious affiliations, etc., etc.

I don't think people hate government workers. I think people dislike government bureaucracy, which comes out when you have to deal with the DMV, IRS, etc. In fact, since I live in Minnesota, I'd guess that there's actually a lot of pride in being a state worker.

My dad was a state worker for over 30 years and I never once heard disparaging remarks about his job. I now work for a county/state funded entity (library), and nobody has said anything to me about hating the library. They probably know they'd get an earful!

I work as a special education teacher in NYC public schools, I usually get praised for my government work. No one has ever talked down to me about it.

I work for the government. I and the many people I work with have a lot of pride for the work we do (I work with veterans). I don't think many of these people do it soley for the paycheck, but the feeling like you make a difference. We are working with frozen wages, paired with higher workloads but you can't take away my pride about my work. The majority of the public is misinformed and I don't let it affect the way I feel about my job.

I'm a government FTE. Perhaps there should be a box to tick on your hospital admissions records - 'hates government employees, yes or no?" Then I can discard positive blood cultures and ignore drug sensitivity results for patients who don't think I have fairly earned my paycheck!

In all seriousness, I hope the general public realizes that the government employs people to fill crucial roles. We're not all paper pushers.

Why would people hate government employees? Odd question. If anything, I think "ah, cozy gov't job...lucky!".

Written by Imdanny » May 11th, 2012, 12:50 am:DF, you're assuming most people are government hating like you. They aren't.

think my tax dollars can be put to better use then Jeff Neely soaking in a hot tub...

Dancing fire, I can bet you the average federal government worker has a lot more antipathy towards the Jeff Neely's of the world than the average public. You think you were pissed off to hear about what the GSA workers were doing...

oh, DF, after all the comments you've made re government waste and taxpayer dollars i now learn your daughter works for the government?! oh, the irony of it all!

i don't think any employee of any group should wear their employee badge in public. i see it as a privacy issue as well as a safety issue.

Written by justginger » May 11th, 2012, 9:47 am:I'm a government FTE. Perhaps there should be a box to tick on your hospital admissions records - 'hates government employees, yes or no?" Then I can discard positive blood cultures and ignore drug sensitivity results for patients who don't think I have fairly earned my paycheck!

In all seriousness, I hope the general public realizes that the government employs people to fill crucial roles. We're not all paper pushers.

my wife said her job is very stressful,plus sometime she's on call 24/7 w/o OT pay.

Written by movie zombie » May 11th, 2012, 10:27 am:oh, DF, after all the comments you've made re government waste and taxpayer dollars i now learn your daughter works for the government?! oh, the irony of it all!

i don't think any employee of any group should wear their employee badge in public. i see it as a privacy issue as well as a safety issue.

i have always reminded her to work hard for the taxpayers.

Written by Dancing Fire » May 10th, 2012, 11:58 pm:government workers? .would you like to work for the state or federal government?

i told my daughter to put away her I.D when she's out in public,b/c majority of the public hate state workers.

it was my understanding that she is REQUIRED to hide her ID if she's a government worker for security reasons.

DF, if I'm not mistaken, you tend to pay more attention to those parts of the media that like to blame government for all that is wrong with our country. Plus much of the media, irrespective of political orientation, pounces on stupid/crooked bureaucrat stories much about the same way it does stupid crook stories. And of course, you and I live in a town where government is the dominant industry, and is reported in the media accordingly.

Yes there are pockets of animosity towards government workers, fueled by stereotypes, the pension debate, and abuses that get reported as being the norm when in all likelyhood they are very rare - i.e., your thread about "why" the country is going broke. I rarely run into that resentment in person, however. (I won't say "never," but I work for a regulatory agency so some anger comes with the territory.) A lot of time if my work comes up in conversation people will comment on how things have improved in the field I work in... occasionally the comment is thrown out to cover an awkward moment but more often it seems genuine.

Of course your daughter should be careful about who she discloses personal information to no matter what her job... if only because they might be eyeing those lovely diamond earrings of hers!

I think this says a lot about you.

I think more people would be jealous than try to harm her.

Written by Dancing Fire » May 11th, 2012, 10:04 am:

Written by Imdanny » May 11th, 2012, 12:50 am:DF, you're assuming most people are government hating like you. They aren't.

think my tax dollars can be put to better use then Jeff Neely soaking in a hot tub...

Argument from insufficient sample.

My mother works for NYS and has for almost 20 years.

Stereotyping people who work for the government pisses me of because I know what she does, how hard she works, what a toll it's taken on her physically, and the sadly laughable compensation she receives.

I also know what would happen if she and her coworkers didn't do their jobs, and nobody who complains about "government workers" would like it in the least.

I have no tolerance for union busting. I have no tolerance for hating on the poor, working, and middle classes. None.

Written by Circe » May 11th, 2012, 7:01 am:Dingdingdingdingding to Danny and KSinger!

I've always been envious of government workers. They have great jobs with benefits, pay and retirement plans. I'm not sure why anyone would hate them.

Written by movie zombie » May 11th, 2012, 10:27 am:oh, DF, after all the comments you've made re government waste and taxpayer dollars i now learn your daughter works for the government?! oh, the irony of it all!

i don't think any employee of any group should wear their employee badge in public. i see it as a privacy issue as well as a safety issue.

DF, doesn't your wife work for the government as well?

I work for the Federal Government and believe me, it's nothing to be hated over!

Written by tigian » May 12th, 2012, 12:12 pm:

Written by movie zombie » May 11th, 2012, 10:27 am:oh, DF, after all the comments you've made re government waste and taxpayer dollars i now learn your daughter works for the government?! oh, the irony of it all!

i don't think any employee of any group should wear their employee badge in public. i see it as a privacy issue as well as a safety issue.

DF, doesn't your wife work for the government as well?

she's employed by the State of Ca.

Written by Dancing Fire » May 10th, 2012, 11:58 pm:government workers? .would you like to work for the state or federal government?

i told my daughter to put away her I.D when she's out in public,b/c majority of the public hate state workers.

So, DF, would you say you despise 50% of your family?

I'd say DD should remove/cover her badge just as a matter of personal safety while she's not at work. Nothing to do with working for the government, just not advertising where you work in case there's some freak out there wanting to follow her.

Written by hlmr » May 12th, 2012, 7:02 pm:

Written by Dancing Fire » May 10th, 2012, 11:58 pm:government workers? .would you like to work for the state or federal government?

i told my daughter to put away her I.D when she's out in public,b/c majority of the public hate state workers.

So, DF, would you say you despise 50% of your family?

hey,i'd remind them to work hard for the taxpayers..

And as long as DF himself reminds his family members to work HARD, then that makes it OK that he's living off a government "redistribution" program. DF's exhortations even ensure that the very positions themselves, that his family works at, are not wasteful or redundant, or don't involve some function that could be better delivered by the private sector.

Written by ksinger » May 13th, 2012, 6:20 am:And as long as DF himself reminds his family members to work HARD, then that makes it OK that he's living off a government "redistribution" program. DF's exhortations even ensure that the very positions themselves, that his family works at, are not wasteful or redundant, or don't involve some function that could be better delivered by the private sector.

i will always believe in a smaller government,wish they leave the private sector alone so that they can create more jobs for people,then more people can get off redistribution programs.