The gray area between the public and private sectors
I am a public employee working in the Public Works Dept. of a city in California. Many times I have written here about many of my coworkers who ascribe to Republicanism and Libertarianism even though they work for and are paid by government.
Here is a new twist.
Periodically we have contracted (private sector) safety instructors come to the workplace to fulfil mandatory safety training as required by OSHA, Pesticide Applicator License, CPR, Confined Space Training, etc...
One of those trainings was yesterday wherein the instructor went off on a tangent discussing OSHA rules and regs and the detail therein. This led to him talking about how politicians in Congress are 'do nothing' etc, etc... Now this might seem okay but keep in mind that nearly all of these instructors are CONs...I can tell by their 'humor'. One of them even told a Pelosi, Obama, and Hillary joke. A lousy one at that plus he went into sexist jokes. I reported him to the Director and she took action immediately...but I digress.
During the training yesterday I texted my buddy coworker, "If this guy hates the government so much then I am sure he would be willing to forgo his pay from the city". My friend laughed.
Here's the rub. I mentioned this text to my conservative-minded coworker not thinking about it...DOH! He went off a bit at me saying this guy "doesn't work for the city". He attempted to lecture me that, for instance, General Atomic employees don't "work for the government". I replied that it is government money they receive and that I did not see the clear-cut line between the public and private sectors in these cases. We ended the conversation quickly and civilly but it got me thinking why I get so bent out of shape by 'government bashers' who derive their livelihood from the government whether it be county, city, state, federal, or even those "private" contractors who are paid with public money.
Why do I get so upset when conservative types criticise our government?
I think it must be the hypocrisy of them benefitting yet bashing at the same time.
The hypocrisy of showing up to instruct us in Tea Party stickered vehicles (no joke) is maddening to me.
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