Many years ago, a guy in my outfit decided to go to Officer Candidates School. He did. And he became an officer. Retired as a colonel. Two tours in Vietnam. He said it was a great life. He lives near Fort Knox, Kentucky, today.

Right after he graduated from OCS, he was talking about the training. One of the toughest things, he said, was that they were regularly given sets of problems to which there was no good answer. If you did X, then Y would happen. If you did nothing, then Z would probably happen. X was bad, and you knew it. But taking the Z and Y options were worse.

Maybe the government should set up a special training facility for people tapped to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management. There are worse jobs in government, but sometimes it’s hard to remember where they are. Like Tuesday night. In short, the director of OPM decided to keep the government open even though Metro (our subway system) closed for 29 hours to perform safety checks. Metro has had serious safety problems, including loss of life, and it has a new general manager. He ordered an inspection of the nation’s second largest subway system. A number of problems were found and fixed, Metro says.

OPM said non-emergency workers could take unscheduled annual leave (vacation). Employees were also told they could telework. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who represents thousands of fed Metro commuters, said the decision to shut down “was a gut punch” to commuters who depend on Metro. He didn’t criticize OPM Director Beth Cobert, partly because she was reacting to a situation she didn’t create, and also because of the lenient leave and telework plan. But lots of people are knocking the OPM director who (like almost all her predecessors) has been pummeled inside and outside the Beltway whenever the government shut down for a snow or weather emergency.

During past snowstorms, OPM directors have been criticized for having employees come in, then — as the storm intensified — telling them to turn around and go home. Late arrivals and early departures put a strain on Metro and buses because they are set up to operate a.m. and p.m. shifts. Drivers have to be alerted, then get to work.

OPM directors all live in the shadow of the January 1983 Air Florida disaster. Lots of snow, and ice in the D.C. area. The airplane took off from National (now Reagan) Airport. It crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, about two miles from the White House, and even closer to the Pentagon. Seventy-eight people died and some people on the bridge were injured. Some of them were federal employees who had been released early because of weather conditions. None of them would have been there, at that time, except for the early release. Do you do X, Y, or Z? Or nothing, which of course is something.

Lots of folks sounded off about the Metro shutdown and OPM’s decision not to shut down.

J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, blasted OPM for forcing employees to choose between coming to work or taking a vacation day for an event beyond their control. Here’s what he told Federal Drive host Tom Temin.

Mick J., a former government contractor,  said D.C.-area feds “need a reality check.” In most private sector jobs, he said workers wouldn’t have the option to take leave or telework. “These people (federal employees) are so out of touch with the real world. I say give them whine-with-their-cheese!”

Finally, L .K.B had this to say:

*”Thank you for running the articles on OPM and the Metro debacle. As only one of the many federal employees, I was also incensed by OPM’s decision. First, I fault Metro (but then again so does everyone else!) They make the announcement and it does not hit the airwaves until a lot of feds have left work for the day. I heard about the Metro closing at 5 p.m., after I got off a bus bringing me home from work. The office I work for does not permit regular telework. We only have situational telework, such as blizzards and Metro closings. However, you have to know about it before you leave the office so you can take necessary items with you such as your computer. Telling me at 5 p.m. is not sufficient notice. Therefore, OPM left me no choice but to take the day off. I guess I could have taken the bus (I live 35 miles from D.C.), but all I could envision was traffic backed up for miles and my commute time getting me home in enough time to get ready for the next day!

“I do have another point that no one else has brought up. When I heard about the cables, wires, etc. connected with the Metro, the newscaster mentioned that these frayed items were on the silver line as well as on the blue and orange. How in the world does the silver line, which is a new line, have these frayed chords? That is extremely disconcerting to me. If the new line has this problem, did Metro really catch all the other frayed items on the other lines? Also, was Metro really concerned about its regular Metro ridership or were they more concerned with the cherry blossom tourists who will invade the area within the next two weeks? After all, the woman who died during the smoke inhalation event was a year ago. Is this new tunnel fire the real motivating factor with Metro? I think the tourist ridership is probably the biggest factor for yesterday.

“Anyway, thank you for letting me vent. I am just another one of those feds who spent yesterday fuming more than I did enjoying myself. Keep up the good work!”

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

To Go-Go’s song “Vacation” reached No. 8 on Billboard’s Top 100 in August 1982.

Source: Wikipedia

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