We can’t win. We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.

I am a Federal employee and I have been for quite a while. And in our current political climate, I’m brave to even admit it these days.

I have done it all. I have worked five days a week before the advent of telework. I have worked during the time telework was being considered. I have teleworked two days a week, one day given to me for a reasonable accommodation. I have remotely worked five days a week during the pandemic. Since last April, I have worked one, then two, then four days in the office. Now I currently work three days in the office as a result of my reasonable accommodation being reinstated.

Yes, there are the essential workers. I’ll never disparage or take anything away from them. Some Federal employees are a member of that club.

I am not.

However, most of us only discovered that we were non-essential in recent years–during dreaded occasions, for example, government shutdowns, bad weather conditions, and the pandemic. So, it is not as if we went out at the start of our government careers with the idea in mind to find positions that weren’t deemed “essential”.

Nevertheless, there are some quarters of society who detest us. Except when:

there are hurricanes/snowstorms/tornadoes/floods, etc., that damage a city or town;

the banking system is imploding;

you want your tax refund;

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Lately though, we’re two sides of the same coin because we are also the whipping boy. Society calls us lazy, entitled, whiny–not anything nice. Basically, we are useless.

Yet, since the pandemic, we have been thrust into the unenviable and frankly, unasked for position of carrying the weight of the United States’ economy on our collective backs.

Told to return to working in the office and expected to happily spend, spend, spend.

And we are–on gas and all things related to driving on roads that are constantly under repair or construction. It is annoying and just a note to the road construction workers–could you have a street sweeper sweep up the rocks, bolts, bits of metal and nails out of the street as you go along? Because I would like the new tires I had to purchase earlier this year to replace the tires I kept fishing screws, nails, and even slivers of glass out of to last for a while.

By the way–those of us who take public transportation would like it to be safe. Not just for Federal employees but for all of us. And just a little favor? Could you please get a handle on the fare evaders? That would do a lot to keep the subway system (in the Washington metropolitan area, that would be Metrorail) from facing as much of a dire financial shortfall as it is right now. Federal employees cannot be expected to rectify these situations.

Back to those of us who drive–So, Federal employees who were told to go back to the office were told to do so on what is now the Indianapolis 500. It’s a life-or-death proposition attempting to get there these days, what with the bat-outta-hell, I don’t-give-a-damn-about-the-right-of-way-or-that-red-light mentality many drivers seem to possess right now.

And thanks for legalizing marijuana, Congress.. There is nothing like the pungent aroma of it as I drive to and return home from the office. Who didn’t think that would happen? What kind of jobs do they have, is what I’d like to know. Federal employees live with the understanding that we can be required to submit to a urine test at any time, so those folks smoking, ahem, weed probably aren’t us.

So, returning to the office while inflation is still inflated and expected to buy lunch, go to stores and other establishments at pre-pandemic levels, while being bombarded by many in the private sectors and even members of Congress as the spoiled brats of society, yet simultaneously, as the saviors of it is in a word, asinine. And Congress, you now want to cut our benefits, yet seem to be puzzled as to why we aren’t happy about it.

We are members of society, just like the rest of you.

We are not the enemy.

But don’t expect to place all the hopes of a booming economy upon our backs.

Whether we work from home or in the office, during the pandemic or not, we were and still are, working–essential workers or not.

If there were some employees who were bad actors (not doing their jobs), Federal employees or not, that was and is up to their supervisors to address. We don’t all fall under that category, so stop treating us as if we all do.

Because I am and my fellow Federal employees are sick of it.

We are not robots or commodities. We have lives and families and yes, for many of us, working from home was very convenient. Why are you so angry at us? We were instructed to do so for the health and safety of all of us. And in doing so, we helped keep the nation afloat, along with the essential workers.

Still, many lives were lost and from Federal agencies as well.

We all deserve respect.