A favorite stereotype of cartoonists and anti-government types is the city worker leaning on a shovel doing nothing.
As I type this, two men are in our neighbors' yard "doing nothing", sitting in or leaning against an idle backhoe. They work for a private contractor who is installing new sewer pipe. Why are they doing nothing? They have just filled a dump truck with dirt and it has gone off to put it someplace else and probably bring back gravel for the bottom of the trench. Meanwhile there is nothing to do for them but wait.
Should they get paid while waiting? Would you like to be required to be somewhere with nothing to do and not get paid for your time? I bet not.
Next time you see city workers doing nothing, carefully observe the situation. They may be waiting because they are waiting for more equipment or material. They may be waiting for advice on how to get around a problem. They may be waiting for supervisors to make a decision. I bet in most cases they would be working if they had all they needed to do the job.
