Originally published in the
Northland Reader
now the
Reader Weekly
July 20, 2000
It is popular to complain about government bureaucrats, either as picky, intrusive inspectors or lazy, can’t-be-bothered office clerks. I’ve always felt these complaints were overblown because most of my dealings with government employees have been with friendly people trying to provide a service. After years working for a large corporation and running my own tiny business, I finally went over to the “other side.” I became a federal bureaucrat.
In December I took the test to become a Census worker. I didn’t hear anything until March when I was asked if I would like to work part-time in the evening; I declined. I was called again for part-time evening work and I declined. The last week in April I was called to be a payroll data entry clerk from 12 to 9. I thought that I had better accept on the third try or I might never be called again. I was to start May 1 at $7.50/hour with a night premium of 75 cents for work after 6:00 p.m.
I first filled out a stack of forms on my own behalf including deductions for income tax, an electronic payroll deposit form, and a confidentiality agreement. Because I signed this last form, I can’t tell you anything about the information that I saw without permission of the legal counsel of the Bureau of the Census.
I was shown how to check enumerators’ and clerks’ daily time sheets and then batch them for data entry. My job was a control to make sure people were not paid too much but also not too little and that they were reimbursed for any expenses that they incurred. When I had no time sheets to check, I filed just about every piece of paper an employee signed. The time sheets were the highest priority so that employees would be paid on schedule.
After a week I was transferred to “Field” where another group of clerks audited the census returns. Our job was to check that the number of people on the front was the same as number of people named inside and the same as number of people on the back. If no people were at the residence, we were to check that other appropriate information was given such as the enumerator couldn’t find the address or that it was a vacation residence. We also had to check that a minimum number of questions were answered.
This work was far more interesting, almost too interesting. It was hard not to read the forms for the variety of information people gave. I soon developed a soft focus that allowed me to just check if sufficient information was given.
On the other hand this work was sporadic. We would sit around reading or chatting because we had processed all the returns. Then a courier or a crew leader would come in with a small stack or a cartload of forms, and away we would go. Some nights we would complete everything by quitting time; other nights we would leave some to the day staff.
But far more interesting than the information on the census returns were the people who worked for the Census. Not only were we diverse in the political sense of black, white, and Indian, but the real sense of a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and hopes. We had veterans who had been all over the world and people who never left the region. We had people who never went to college and a Ph.D. We had school teachers, choral singers, and political activists. Each of them had interesting stories and I’m sorry that I don’t have space for more.
Will, not his real name, was an air traffic controller. Will was a “gypsy”, meaning that he would be assigned to various airports on an as needed basis. His most harrowing experience was when he had just plugged in his microphone and headset when a DC-10 lost an engine at O’Hare. He was at Oshkosh handling the big fly-in when President Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers. The Experimental Aircraft Association, an organizer of the Oshkosh flyin, returned his application and check.
Carla Bayerl was with the Air Force for 22 years. She started as an Integrated Avionics Components Specialist (electronics technician). She spent the last 14 years on a mobility team. The team was on call for search and recovery after a crash. At the same time, she also managed base residences, food services, and a recreation and fitness center.. She had assignments in Arizona, Alaska, California, Germany, Italy, and Greece. She is a country music fan and is now developing a business booking country and other bands.
Cade Raukar is a recent graduate of University of North Dakota in Criminal Justice. He took some additional courses in his field this spring. He is also in the National Guard as a tanker, his current position is as a gunner. He is now working as corrections officer in the St. Louis County Jail.
Jerry Hess was a newspaper and magazine editor. He had worked for the Austin (MN) Daily Herald , the Ft. Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, and the Star Tribune. He was the editor for many years of Snack Food Magazine, a trade journal, when the publisher decided to move it to another state.
Chuck Thompson was a country and pop DJ and talk show host in Litchfield and Willmar for five years. He was dropped from one station when his ratings dropped. He jokes that his successor lasted two weeks. One of his highlights was interviewing Kevin McHale, general manager of the Timberwolves. He is now a freshman basketball coach at Esko. He plans to start next fall at University of Wisconsin at Superior to finish his degree in elementary education.
So, the next time that someone complains about government bureaucrats, remind that person that the bureaucrats are employees like most of the rest of us. They have a wide range of hopes and concerns, needs and interests. And like the rest of us, they are doing the best they can in a situation in which somebody else made the rules.
©2000, 2007 Melvyn D. Magree
