Does Uncle Sam need big boy pants?

Washington’s latest inside-the-Beltway flap/tragedy, provided a brief respite from the unrelenting 24/7 coverage of the race for the White House.

What happened, in case you missed it or live elsewhere, is that our subway system, Metro, shut down for 24 hours plus change. That is all day Wednesday. The surprise shutdown was for badly needed safety checks. Metro is the nation’s second largest system. Hundreds of thousands of area federal workers take it to and from work.

Although our ordeal only lasted one day. It could happen again. And for many people there is no way to prepare for it. But while it was ongoing, the media (guilty as charged) had a field day. Then there was the response (mostly negative) from people who said giving feds the choice of working or taking vacation was the equivalent of cruel and unusual punishment. At the very least, most critics say, feds should have been given a paid day off. After all, they say, it wasn’t their fault that the 40-year-old Metro blows a gasket — sometimes fatally — more often than experts think it should.

Critics owned last week. But …

Reacting to the criticism of Metro, Beth Cobert, the acting director of the OPM, and others, some people are biting back. Most targeted the comments here of fed John Taylor, who was critical of the non-shutdown. He said, “I’m very disappointed in OPM. Many feds like myself do not have a viable way to get into D.C. for a full workday without Metro. Any leave we must take is the equivalent of stealing from us. I’m sure this will help the government save hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But it is not honest. It highlights yet again how disenfranchised feds are these days.” And while he spoke for a lot of people, others disagreed. For instance:

“The same comment from John Taylor, but instead from an employee of a private sector firm. (with subsequent commentary).

“I’m very disappointed in Blank Corporation. Many Blank Employees like myself do not have a viable way to get into D.C. for a full workday without Metro. Any leave we must take is the equivalent of stealing from us. I’m sure this will help Blank Corporation save hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But it is not honest. It highlights yet again how disenfranchised Blank Employees are these days.

“I am sure that the shareholders of Blank Corporation, are aghast that the company decided not to pay you if you didn’t come to work. And how does not getting a payday without working affect your right to vote in government elections?

“Is there a shortage of big boy pants among federal workers? “ — Old Geezer with the Department of Energy

Or this, from a reader on the West Coast…

”I thought the feds (in D.C.) handled it great. Take an AL day if you cannot get to work, they did not fire anyone for not having reliable or alternative transportation. Take a day and do something fun, make the best of it. How is this stealing, the feds are paying us for our time, you take the day off because you can’t get to work — at least you have AL, many in private business do not. If this guy could telework they would have required it (even on a snow day). ” —  E.P.

Finally…

“It would be soooo nice if my federal colleagues would grow up. This wouldn’t be a debate in the private sector. No work, no pay. Period. We even get transit subsidies which are rare, if they exist, outside government. Yet instead of being grateful people [complain] that the subsidy isn’t higher. For the record, mine is 100 percent more than my nonfederal brother’s office gives him.” — R/R

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

Author J.M. Barrie first used his most famous character— Peter Pan — in a section of his adult novel The Little White Bird.

Source: Wikipedia

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