How Government Works

In most places it's a holiday today. Presidents Day, which in these parts means no mail but plenty of red, white and blue. Before heading off to my Tempe office for a few days, I stopped in for a cup of joe at Dina's Coffee and Hair Emporium. Doc Mott, a retired vet from northern Virginia, was in for his daily brew and pulled up a chair with some other boys. Having resided near Washington, D.C. before living here the past 20 years gives ol Doc a twisted (or not) perspective on government. As his story goes...

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of the Arizona desert. Congress said,"Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said,"How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said,"How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said,"How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Congress said,"Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said,"We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.

Life is good, but twisted sometimes.