A Mindful Fed (Part 1)

Hey, did ya hear? The Federal government shut down. Yeah, no really. Just up and shut the doors.

And right now it’s really starting to pinch.

In March 2013 I received my 25 year award. I didn’t get money. I didn’t get time off. I didn’t get a party.

I did get a plaque, a certificate, and an e-mail congratulating me on being a dedicated and faithful employee for the last quarter or a century. A co-worker got her 40 year award at the same time. We've spent some time serving our nation and its people.

The award came right up against the news that we were going to start having furlough days: for one or two days per month we would be ordered to stay away from the workplace and forbidden to engage in any official duties or act in any official capacity.

We tightened our belts and made adjustments, but no matter how many concessions we made locally, we were only able to limit the number of furlough days. Then October 1 came along. As of this writing, I’ve been off work for 2 weeks without any income. And there is very little good news on the horizon.

Sure, we’ve been told we’ll get paid for this time once the budget gets put in place. But that will be a lump sum check, and until then we have bills to pay, groceries to buy, roofs to keep over our heads. Our children need school lunch money. Our family members need medicines. Our loved ones need us to provide security and we just don’t have very much of that at the moment.

What about those who applied for unemployment? Well around these parts, as soon as we get our Federal paycheck, those folks will have to pay all of that back right away. After taxes are taken out, of course.

Perhaps we could just get a part-time job. We have guidelines about that too. We can’t just take any old job opportunity while we’re still technically employed by the Federal government, and in many cases we need to fill out a form to request permission to get outside employment before we can get that job.

Then there are the poor folks who are ordered to report to work almost daily without getting a cent for gas to drive to the campus (particularly rough for folks who live 30 or more minutes away). I know of at least one instance where an employee drove to work, was told to do something, and then told to go home 15 minutes later. Those deemed “Essential” occasionally feel worse than those who just stay in bed without pay.

In many ways, it’s like I’ve been in a relationship for 25 years, and even though things have been rocky lately, I took it in stride. What relationship doesn’t have troubles sometimes?

Well I’ve discovered that while my “partner” of 25 years has been telling me how much they love me, when the chips are down it turns out I’m really just a guy they know. And that kinda stings.