Disclaimer: The thoughts and feelings expressed in this post are solely the author's and do not represent the official position of any government agency.
I’m depressed. Like sit in a chair and stare into the middle distance for an hour depressed. And I’m having trouble shaking it.
We won’t be paid this weekend, like hundreds of thousands of other political footballs.
You know what contributes to my depression: The people who kind of think it’s funny. Joking with me about working for free when I’m called in. (Nope, not funny. Don’t get paid.) Or calling this a taste of retirement. (Nope, not like retirement. I’d have income in retirement.) Or acting like we will definitely get backpay when I have zero basis to trust that that will happen. Would YOU trust that that would happen were you in my shoes?
So...I’m depressed. Deeply, deeply depressed.
And I can absorb a missed paycheck. Imagine how it feels to be a federal worker living paycheck to paycheck. Imagine how this affects morale. Imagine how valued it makes us feel. Imagine how you would feel if your employer sent you home without pay every time management and the board of directors got into a kerfuffle over the corporate budget. How would you feel about your job? Even when you went back to work when the dispute was resolved, how would you feel about that work and that job? How secure would you feel?
So, yeah. I’m depressed.
