Me: Why is the city posting “updates” on our water crisis with today’s date, but an outdated post from Feb 11th
Clerk: I don’t know sir.
Me: Has anyone else complained?
Clerk: You’re my 10th call this morning
Me: And have you told you IT dept or supervisor of … 1/6
Clerk: I don’t know sir.
Me: Has anyone else complained?
Clerk: You’re my 10th call this morning
Me: And have you told you IT dept or supervisor of … 1/6
this issue?
Clerk: No sir
Me: May I ask why?
Clerk: Well sir, to be honest, it’s not my job to do that.
Me: Is it your job to inform the public about water emergencies?
Clerk: Yessir.
Me: And would accurate updates save you from fielding all these citizen … 2/6
Clerk: No sir
Me: May I ask why?
Clerk: Well sir, to be honest, it’s not my job to do that.
Me: Is it your job to inform the public about water emergencies?
Clerk: Yessir.
Me: And would accurate updates save you from fielding all these citizen … 2/6
callers?
Clerk: Yessir, that would be nice.
Me: Would you be harmed or fired if you told your supervisor?
Clerk: No sir. But it’s not your job to tell me what to do, now is it?
Me: Well, actually, as a taxpayer, it is, indirectly, my job to do that. Can’t you … 3/6
Clerk: Yessir, that would be nice.
Me: Would you be harmed or fired if you told your supervisor?
Clerk: No sir. But it’s not your job to tell me what to do, now is it?
Me: Well, actually, as a taxpayer, it is, indirectly, my job to do that. Can’t you … 3/6
simply email your superior about the updating problem so they can fix it?
Clerk: Sir, we’ve covered this. Will the be anything else?
Me: No, thank you. This is an ample demonstration of why so many people despise government.
We pay for city services, and … 4/6
Clerk: Sir, we’ve covered this. Will the be anything else?
Me: No, thank you. This is an ample demonstration of why so many people despise government.
We pay for city services, and … 4/6
there’s almost no accountability for what we pay for. This is why I am often sympathetic to some conservative arguments that so much of our government is just a jobs program. I don’t mind that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some minimum requirements for who … 5/6
we hire, what is expected of them, and some reasonable procedures for ensuring that systems we pay for actually work and get used. 6/6
You may blame conservatives for strangling our public schools and you’d be correct. But that doesn’t mean schools are very good. Public ed. is producing an entire generation of marginally literate people & a trip to any city govt office will prove it to you.
