Losing Your Job

Would you like a high-paying job with great benefits and minimal accountability? One that makes few demands and provides enviable security.

If you answered yes, I doubt you are a long-time member of our Happy Warrior community. Don’t get me wrong. Happy Warriors appreciate generous salaries, substantial benefits, and security. But they want to earn those plusses, not receive them as a gift.

Living in different regions of the United States introduces you to different types of workers. When my husband and I lived in the Pacific Northwest we met people who worked in the fishing and logging industries. And when we relocated to the greater Washington, D.C. metroplex, we began meeting a higher proportion of people who worked for the federal government. Or to be more precise, three categories of people who worked for the government.

The first group consisted of highly competent professionals whose interests, abilities, and dedication left us happy that our tax dollars were paying their salaries.

The second group accepted employment with great delight (see salaries, benefits, and security as mentioned above). Yet, they rarely lasted in those positions for more than a few months. Why was that?

Within days of starting, their fellow workers suggested that they slow down. More than one recommended that they find a side distraction to fill their hours. By working for the government at the rapid pace to which they had been accustomed in the private sector, they annoyed their fellow workers by making them look bad. When the new hires realized that the price of the job included selling their souls, they quit.

Who belonged in the third group? Those who responded differently to the same messages the employees in the second group received. They began toting a book to read with them each day or found another diversion to pass the time. Those were also the people with whom we minimized contact.

As President Trump threatens the livelihoods of some federal workers and as the Supreme Court affirms his right to do so, these ex-employees have two choices. They can scream into TV cameras and demand that their jobs should be treated as sacred cows, or they can shamefacedly acknowledge that they were, legally and with full government authority and support, taking money from their fellow citizens’ pockets while not delivering value.

Certainly, some deserving employees with professional work ethics will be caught up in this reclaiming of the workforce. Just like those who worked for companies that went bust or industries that downsized, they will need to find new occupations. At least they can appreciate that their taxes will be wasted slightly less than before.

In memory of Staff Sgt. Daniel Rashid, a 19-year-old Druze soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, who was killed on October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists.

The Druze, an offshoot of Shia Islam, are often targeted by their Muslim “brothers.” They are loyal Israeli citizens, and this week Israel came to their Syrian relatives’ defense when they were being assaulted and murdered.

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