Okay, so I worked for the federal government for a year. While working for [unnamed agency] I learned a few things. First, however lazy you think bureaucrats are, they are about ten times lazier than that at a minimum. Second, there are actually measures in place to make sure government employees don’t get too productive. For instance, there are in house union representatives – even in non-union states – who walk around the offices quite literally asking if you’ve rested your eyes in the last 10-15 minutes, and engaging in conversation about ways to minimize the amount of work actually preformed. Third, there really is a form for everything, which is part of why nothing gets done. For every task you complete, you have to complete some secondary follow-up paperwork task. Fourth, there really are managers, and their only job is to take orders from their manager and distribute them either to those who will perform the tasks outlined in the order, or hand them off to another middle-manager who will then possibly get word to the workers that they are going to have to *gasp* work. Simply walking into the office everyday I was reminded that work wasn’t expected of me, just appreciated, by the ever-present gaggle of GS 11 and 12 “workers” standing around, discussing their next paid vacation.

It. Was. Annoying.