When it comes to politics, the economy, job security and other big ticket items, some people worry a lot more than others.

People who do worry a lot about a lot of things believe, I suspect, that infrequent fretters are S-L-O-W at best. Or that they haven’t been paying attention.

People who don’t worry a lot about many things believe, I suspect, that the frequent fretters need to chill out.

Yesterday’s column was about all of the horrible job-related things that some predicted would happen to feds this year. And last year. And (just wait) next year.

As it turns out none of them happened.

Feds didn’t get furloughed, the CSRS retirement program wasn’t abolished, mass layoffs didn’t happen, the 2009 federal pay raise wasn’t frozen or shrunk and retirees will get their 5.8 percent COLA (the biggest since 1982) on time, despite warnings to the contrary.

Washington is a town where lots of people – lobbyists, lawyers, journalists, union leaders and trade associations – make a good living provided some pot is always about to boil over. Without constant threats, many of us would have to get real jobs. That is a frightening thought!

The good news is that it – bad news going away – won’t happen. There is always potential bad news out there and enough of it, usually not what was predicted, happens, keeping unemployment among the chattering classes at low levels.

Here are some comments from readers out the fear factor in the federal workforce:

• “Great column. I have been a federal contractor, working alongside DOE people, for more than 10 years. Before that I was a contractor with NASA. One of my sons is also a contractor. We often talk about how fearful so many of our civil service colleagues are about their jobs. For no good reason.

  “They have job security. My son and I could be tossed out tomorrow. Like many federal workers I was furloughed during the 1995 government shutdown. But unlike my civil service colleagues, whom I like and who are hard-working and dedicated, I didn’t get paid for the furlough period. They did get paid! I could go on but this isn’t a sour grapes rant. I just wish they would stop complaining and worrying about losing things – including holidays and pensions – that we ‘outsiders’ would love to have.” R.M.

• “I have never understood many Fed’s fears about (pay raises, cutbacks, etc). As you point out, they very rarely come about and, even if they do, it takes a long time. Also, unless something kills you, it’s really not that bad (and this is from a guy who has left Federal employment twice for ‘greener pastures’ and has probably been laid off more times than most Feds have had different jobs!).” Denis Symes
• “Your column, The Fear Factor, mentioned the fellow keeping a diary about his fears. Try this:

  “Write down what you were worrying about one year ago. You probably won’t remember. Write down which actually happened. Probably few or none. Now write down the bad things that happened in the last year. You needed your appendix out or someone ran a red light and totaled your car. Probably few if any of the things that actually happened were on your list. Worrying didn’t prepare you for the future and when something happened you dealt with it without prior preparation (worrying).” S.F.

• “My Father died about a year and half ago. Two days after he died, I was driving my daughter’s car from Colorado to Western Mass where she had started medical school. Driving across Western Kansas I was thinking about Mom and Dad. Mom died 8 months earlier. There isn’t much else to do driving across Western Kansas besides think. Anyway, about lunch time it hit me. Mom wasn’t worried about what she would be fixing for lunch and Dad wouldn’t be worrying anymore if his pension and Social Security was going to be enough to take care of their financial needs.

  “Things like will the United States continue? Will the sun come up tomorrow? etc. are beyond our control. The only thing we are in control of is how we feel inside ourselves right now each moment for the rest of our life. The rest of EVERYTHING isn’t worth our time worrying about.

          Read more: Mike Causey

  So what would you really like to do with the rest of your life? Are you doing it when you get your column knocked out for the day? I hope so.” Doug In Denver.

The point: It’s good to have a trusty watchdog. Maybe just not one that barks all night at falling leaves!

Nearly Useless Factoid

For your coastal and vacation planning purposes: the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 was not the first of its size to hit that area. According to new research, reported in Nature and the BBC, the “recurrence time” for that type of disaster in the Indian Ocean appears to be between 600 and 700 years. So we might want to steer clear of the area between 2600 and 2700 or so.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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