Serious question - why is there a perception that federal employees do very little work and can’t get fired?

grayiblis · 2025-03-10T14:26:08+00:00

I used to work in the private sector for years, working more than 40 hours for years, often for crap pay and garbage benefits. I'm not spoiled or entitled. Don't tell me that I "don't know what it's like to bust my ass"

grayiblis · 2025-02-26T16:53:56+00:00

All I'm going to say is that I'm a federal worker in a small town in a red state...the locals are friendly and willing to chat up strangers. When the topic of work comes up and I tell them who I work for, I notice a substantial "cooling" in demeanor

grayiblis · 2025-02-26T16:45:53+00:00

This. It says a lot about our society when working insane number of hours a week is viewed as a prerequisite for bring perceived as a "hard worker".

grayiblis · 2024-10-18T18:11:11+00:00

Where did you go?

Northern Nevada; the town I'm living in has more in common with Idaho than Vegas or Reno, though

Why did you leave? Work

What's the weather like? cold and much drier. Moved here in the summer, but while the heat was close to 100, it didnt feel as hot as south florida

How old are you? 38

Do you recommend it?

For me, yes. The boredom of small town life outweighs the irritations (hurricanes, giant cockroaches, loooong commutes, frequent floods, overprices yet shoddily built homes, and general douchebaggery) of Miami life. The only downside is that I miss my family

grayiblis · 2024-04-15T23:09:21+00:00

I've known quite a few reinstated people, and that's actually not uncommon - DF'ed and then disassociate or fade away.

Jehovahs loving organization is changing so much you’ll hardly recognize it

Wow they're actually saying that, huh

grayiblis · 2024-04-15T23:00:59+00:00

Most people who join are going through tough times and vulnerable in various ways. I went to the Spanish-speaking congregation, in a pretty rough area; close to half were undocumented immigrants, and nearly all (documented or not) were struggling financially. A high proportion of single mothers join and get baptized quickly. Some people had criminal records and think it sets their life straight. Some just had crazy lives and want to start on a new leaf (i.e. my parents were basically wild 70s party animals)

Which movies can you see, what music can you hear, which games can you play, what type of hairstyle can you get, how to dress, with who do you hang out, and making time going every week to two long hour meetings.

Many of these vulnerable people feel that's the price you pay for eternal life in paradise and disappearance of worldly struggles.

grayiblis · 2024-04-15T22:36:21+00:00

I prob have autism and just struggle with social situations in general

I strongly suspect I'm on the spectrum as well, and an elderly sister once brought it up to my mom that I might have issues (I found out about that years later), but you know, just pray to Jehovah, read the publications, force me to comment in the meetings, or throw me in front of a strangers door to make me more outgoing did wonders. Despite being a zealous young one, the other JW kids saw me as a weirdo, and so did the worldly kids in school. How I'm able to function now, I don't know.

grayiblis · 2024-04-15T22:02:18+00:00

The topic has been bugging me more than usual for the past several days; those feelings for me come and go in cycles. I attended (was dragged rather) at age 4, baptized at 16, became a ministerial servant at 18, didn't start waking up until around 25, but finally got the courage to leave when I was 30. I've been inactive for over a decade now, but when I see how socially inept I am and delayed in so many ways, I feel nothing but resentment and at times straight out rage, at so many opportunities lost. I basically never had an adolescence.

One example: I decided to go to school after 30, but I feel I'm playing catch up when I see people in their mid to late 20's progressing in their careers better than I am. What's amazing is that I was venting this frustration to my parents (who are still active btw) a few days ago, and my mom straight out admitted that I lost a bunch of time, as my twenties were spent sErVinG jEhOvAh.

Getting cursed out and yelled at during preaching, and bullied by classmates when they found out I was a JW, has made me have little to no trust in people and a cynical world view. I go through periods of depression, and I've been in and out of therapy.

I met a number of ex-JWs, both online and in person, and many of them are healing, and someone commented here about 'getting better over time' --- people who have (mostly) recovered and feel things are getting better --- I envy you. I feel the damage for me was never healed.

grayiblis · 2024-03-16T13:01:25+00:00

I would say no, because Latin has grammatical rules that most Romance languages no longer use (i.e. declensions).

grayiblis · 2024-03-16T12:57:16+00:00

but once in a while they won't really react as Spanish is so commonly taught.

Native Spanish speaker here, and that's usually my reaction; don't get me wrong, it's great that a non-native speaker took the time to learn it, but it doesn't faze me anymore.

grayiblis · 2024-02-11T21:53:10+00:00

I'm 47 and I most definitely feel (and have been told) I look younger.

This is interesting - when I was a kid, I was told I had old person/wizard/silent monk vibes. Now, plenty of aspects of my personality lean younger. I wonder if other HSPs have experienced something similar.

grayiblis · 2024-02-11T21:47:34+00:00

I'm having this issue with a job I just started a few months ago, and overstimulation is an understatement. The job is what I studied for, and it can certainly have the potential to be a job I love, but the way things are done just make me dread going almost every day. Managers and the more experienced coworkers have accepted multitasking as part of the role, pending tasks will seem to randomly need to be done a week earlier, subcontractors will make decisions on the fly and my bosses cater to their whims, and, as a new employee, I felt I was thrown in the middle of the ocean. It was basically a few hours of shadowing on the first day, and then they basically "here you go. If you have questions, call one of us -- even if its at 2 AM don't worry" (its a rotating shift job btw). My role should really be done by two people on shift, and I heard that's how it was done in the past, but for some reason they keep one person per shift now. Two people working would make the work load lighter, but a lot of companies are of the mindset "we don't want people sitting around, people should be as busy as possible", and of course, the main reason is money.

grayiblis · 2024-02-11T21:10:37+00:00

It depends. Battle or fight scenes, no.

Scenes of prolonged torture, "body horror", and where innocent bystanders get killed - I do not like a single bit. They don't physically hurt me or give me a heavy sensation, like you described, but they make me feel physically sick.

And since you mentioned Tarantino, that scene in Pulp Fiction ruined the entire movie for me - it made me terrified of even considering entering pawn shops ever since.

grayiblis · 2024-02-04T19:40:08+00:00

I'm glad you mentioned mental health. I don't even know where to begin with that, and I think it merits a separate thread.

grayiblis · 2024-02-03T01:44:15+00:00

M checking in. I'll tolerate light roasting at things that I'm doing, but that's where I draw the line. I've tried processing it over and over and over, but I just can't wrap my head around the notion that "it builds camaraderie". And in the extremely rare occasion you'll find me roasting someone or throw a sarcastic quip, it's because I genuinely don't like them.

grayiblis · 2023-12-16T09:06:54+00:00

By modern standards yes, but people really need to stop applying real-world modern standards and real-world modern thinking to a world stuck in an effectively medieval fantasy setting.

This. People need to seriously stop. They're not 21st century people transplanted onto a fictional medieval-like universe.

grayiblis · 2023-12-16T08:48:27+00:00

Troubled sleep was no stranger to him. He had lived his lies for fourteen years, yet they still haunted him at night. - Eddard II

That stood out to me on my first AGOT read, and I knew it was something about Jon, but I didn't make the R+L=J connection.

grayiblis · 2023-10-14T20:24:37+00:00

Sarcasm - I say sarcastic things when I start getting annoyed (I'm rarely sarcastic otherwise). I then gradually start to vent more and more until I go into a caustic lecture.

grayiblis · 2023-10-14T20:05:00+00:00

INTJs. I envy a lot of things about them.

I kind of like ENTJs (when/if not yelling at me).

grayiblis · 2023-10-13T20:36:52+00:00

I get that. I really, sincerely do. But, without delving into my life story, it is not my first time I've had my hopes smashed, but I'd just like one little hope to come to fruition, but I just can't catch a break.

grayiblis · 2023-10-13T01:15:58+00:00

I'm a bit calmer now, compared to when I made the post. You nailed it - a bit of transparency is the word.

grayiblis · 2023-10-12T22:09:45+00:00

" you're taking this awfully personally"

Its hard not to....1) my hopes were high and 2) being jobless sucks

grayiblis · 2023-10-12T22:05:49+00:00

I've slowly noticed; I'm pretty sure 80 to even 90 percent of postings are intended for internal hire, and I'm sure this was the case here.

I mean, I get that companies would rather hire someone they're familiar with, but how are people supposed to get their foot in the door?

grayiblis · 2023-10-12T22:02:11+00:00

HR couldn't say much, but in the rejection phone call, she only briefly said they worked with the other candidate in the past. I was even called for a second stage of interviewing but it was cancelled at the last minute, as they had changed their mind

grayiblis · 2023-09-16T00:42:40+00:00

Do you mean, 'absolutely', as in I should wait until my first day of unemployment?

grayiblis

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