Federal offices stay open!!!!!! [My, my, the beaureucrats have to work?]

The Washington Times ^ | December 6, 2002 | Ellen Sorokin

[jjm2111]

Federal government workers who expected to get a snow day yesterday were unpleasantly surprised when several inches of snow failed to produce a paid day off.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) opted to keep government offices open, angering some of the area's estimated 250,000 federal workers who said the decision created an unnecessary safety risk for commuters traveling slick, snow-covered roads.

[jjm2111]

WAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Try working in the real world you expenders of my tax dollars.

[SoDak]

5 inches? Oh my...my grandmother drives 15 miles to card-club, and 5 inches wouldn't phase her. 5 inches is a veritable dusting.

[Bedford Forrest]

I did a 360-degree turn on one of the major roads and almost slammed into another car on my way to work," said Pam Rogers, a federal employee from Silver Spring who works in downtown Washington. "Doesn't the government know how dangerous it is out there?"

Uh, right Pam - the only danger out there is idiots who can't drive in a little snow or ice and who are already in a panic because the WMAL wussie wussies have told them that it is panic time.

[anniegetyourgun]

Ms. James is one of my favorites in this administration. I hope she will serve this president throughout both terms.

[Tacis]

Don't you believe it!!! The offices may have been open and no snow-emergency-day-off-with-pay-day declared, but most federal employees did not show up for work but stayed home and got paid from one of the many accounts that each has. Those who did show up spent most of the time talking about early release and then went home when they were released early. In fact, it may have been one of those federal days where, if you just show up, you get paid for the full day and get another day off with pay for the effort. Working for the federal government is one of the real wonders of our day. It is no wonder that federal employment is such a closed shop.

[wideawake]

What a bunch of whiners. How pathetic.

[mr.pink]

Uh, right Pam - the only danger out there is idiots who can't drive in a little snow or ice...

Don't forget the dopes who don't think the laws of physics apply to their SUVs.

.....and who are already in a panic because the WMAL wussie wussies have told them that it is panic time.

They basically sold it as armegeddon...un-`effin'-believable.

[Aeronaut]

Strom Thurmond went to work yesterday on his 100th birthday.

[hattend]

I did a 360-degree turn on one of the major roads and almost slammed into another car on my way to work," said Pam Rogers, a federal employee from Silver Spring who works in downtown Washington. "Doesn't the government know how dangerous it is out there?"

Duh, lady. Turn around and take a sick day (still being paid). You're only pissed because they weren't going to pay you to stay home "for free".

[BaghdadBarney]

"...the only danger out there is idiots who can't drive in a little snow or ice and who are already in a panic because the WMAL wussie wussies have told them that it is panic time."

LMAO. You are so right on about WMAL. Andy Parks, Jane Norris and Bill Press - as well as the news staff - are an embarrassment. With the level of danger that was being peddled, you would have thought John Hammond had brought back the T-Rex from Jurassic Park to maim and pillage the Beltway...

[Marine Inspector]

"I did a 360-degree turn on one of the major roads and almost slammed into another car on my way to work," said Pam Rogers, a federal employee from Silver Spring who works in downtown Washington. "Doesn't the government know how dangerous it is out there?"

It's just as dangerous with no snow and your lack or driving skills is not the Governments problem. Get your butt to work or find a new job.

It's idiots like this that give us civil servants a bad name.

Marine Inspector

[blau993]

This private sector FReeper made the 32-mile drive from Annapolis into DC yesterday. I can assure you, from the lack of traffic on the roads, that many Government workers took advantage of the leave policy and did not come in.

I remember the series of big snow storms in January 1996, which is probably when the Government was closed 4 days in a row. Those storms involved several feet of snow, not several inches. I had just bought an SUV in December, and it was a life-saver. We lived at the time on a private little country lane. One of our neighbors had a grandson who would plow it for us, but she would never let us pay him anything. As you can imagine, plowing our lane was not exactly at the top of his list! For about two days, the only way down our lane was the track I cut with my new SUV.

FOX had a funny little vignette on the news last night about how helpless DC is when snow falls. Lindsey Graham was one of those interviewed. He observed that when snow falls, Washington shows just how much of a little Southern city it really is. He noted that Southerners have a peculiar relationship with snow. They like to see it, because they don't get to see it very often, but they haven't a clue what to do with it when it arrives. That is certainly true of DC.

[Grut]

How is this a good thing? I thought the idea was less government....

[muawiyah]

Almost everybody made it into DC. Almost everybody made it into all the other government offices in Maryland and Virginia.

Still, there were undoubtedly many, many unaccountable absences over at OPM where the decisionw as made for folks to come in no matter how deep the snow might have been.

Yessirreebob, that's always the way it is. OPM says "You'all come in" and they are the first to abscond.

[muawiyah]

Almost everybody made it into DC. Almost everybody made it into all the other government offices in Maryland and Virginia.

Still, there were undoubtedly many, many unaccountable absences over at OPM where the decisionw as made for folks to come in no matter how deep the snow might have been.

Yessirreebob, that's always the way it is. OPM says "You'all come in" and they are the first to abscond.

[muawiyah]

5 inches of snow is not a problem where somebody bothered to build some roads. Around the DC Metro Area the roads are operated at capacity 24/7. A serious rain, snowfall, or maybe ice, will always cause problems in this area.

But, if you are sure it's just the drivers and not the absence of sufficient road capacity, please buy your Grandma a ticket to come out here during the next storm and have her drive around.

I'll show up with my camera and we'll see how good she is. We can post the results right here at FR.

[muawiyah]

I am not really sure what it was you said in your posting, but if anybody took a day off it was charged to their annual leave, that is, "vacation time".

Now, about those fat-city federal jobs - most require that the lucky encumbent use good grammar.

[nothingnew]

BWAHAHAHA!!!...Moving from Connecticut and living in Colorado at 6,500 feet, I have to laugh at these weenies.

Learn how to drive, "ya dumb cracker"!

FMCDH

[SoDak]

If they are worse than Mpls, I'll give you that. That's where she lives.

[muawiyah]

As a rule, when we have a 4 to 6 inch snowfall the New Yorkers, the folks from Pittsburgh, and Midwesterners make it into work without difficulty.

On the other hand, you give this place as little as 1/8 of an inch of ice and the only ones you will see at work are from Mississippi and Alabama (and some other places from around there).

Guarantee nobody from CT or CO gets to work with an icestorm - never seen it happen.

Guess they just never learned how to drive on ice!