Days 22 and 23 can be fairly characterized as follows: Cub Scouts, Laundry, and a first viewing of Frozen. (It was GREAT!)
What I really want to write about is Day 24, today, a Monday. I was deemed essential because there was a very important meeting in one of my large cases followed by a very important hearing in that same case.
It was stressful. Once again, I was faced with the feeling that I needed to do weeks worth of work in a day. And, of course, there was no time for that. Even though I was at the office for 12 hours, I didn’t even get through my email.
Fun fact: My department doesn’t pay overtime or give credit hours even for 8+ hour days when we are funded. Why would I work more than 8 hours when I get paid only for 8, even in ordinary times? Because I have ethical obligations. Because I feel honor bound to see it through. Because it is my duty as a public servant to execute my job to the best of my ablity, and sometimes that takes more than eight hours in a day.
By the way, I have heard that SOME people in certain segments of the media think that (or say that) the only people suffering the shutdown are bureaucrats in Washington D.C. "It’s just D.C. bureaucrats who write regulations. So don’t worry about them."
May I now disabuse any of my audience of this fallacious belief? Two government lawyers participated in this hearing today that relates to public health: Me and an attorney representing HUD. We both did this with no pay. We both did this though we missed a paycheck this weekend. Neither of us are bureaucrats. We are boots on the ground trial attorneys who are enforcing the Federal laws to protect public health and ensuring that the system is free from fraud. Not a draft regulation in sight.
Outside of that, here is an incomplete list of categories of un-bureaucrat-government-workers who are also being forced to work without pay:
*Federal prison guards.
*The Secret Service (you know, the guys who guard the President).
*The TSA (those folks at the airport who scan your bags and bodies to make sure terrorists don’t bring bombs onto planes).
*The FBI.
*The FDA (those folks who make sure the food and drugs you put in your body are safe).
*Those folks at the IRS who process your tax returns and cut the checks for your refunds.
*National parks staff.
*Air traffic controllers.
So if any of my dear readers ascribe to the notion that it is merely bureaucrats affected, please drop that notion immediately. You and whomever you received that notion from are wrong. It’s real people, doing outside-the-Beltway jobs to ensure that YOU are safe.
So, now that that’s out of the way, let me end on an extremely high note, a towering high note, a high note so high that only dogs can hear it: My friends. My fellow attorneys. My friends who, when they saw me appear today, were all kindness and sympathy. Your words, your smiles, your pats on the back, your pats on the shoulder, your hugs meant more than I can say. Some of you read this blog. You know who you are. And YOU are the best. You lifted my mood with your kindness and sympathy, your smiles, your kind words, your participation in my gallows humor. If there was one good thing about my work day today, it was you guys. I have been sad, bitter, and angry. You guys made me feel valued and appreciated. And that has made all the difference for my state of mind and my mood. We may battle in the courtroom occasionally, but, in the end, that’s just business. You are good friends. Thank you. ❤️
Ah, and here’s how I end my day, hunting Heffalumps with Pooh, Piglet and my boy. Not a bad finale.
