In my job, I travel around the state of California doing support work for some state agencies. I am not a "state worker." I am what they call an "independent contractor" -- which means I have no retirement, no vacation, no sick pay, no job security, no job rights, no health insurance, and I get to pay double what everybody else pays in FICA and medicare taxes.
So you would think I'd have hard feelings when I listen to all the state workers I work with. They talk about their PERS options, their vacations, when they're going to retire (I will work till I die -- if I physically can do it).
I do wish I had the nice (I won't say excellent; it's all relative) benefits that California state workers have. That doesn't mean I want them to lose theirs.
Quite the opposite.
I am continuously amazed by the hard work and crucial service these people provide to all of us. We don't want to lose them.
We don't want to lose 10 percent of what they do. We want them to do more, hire more -- not only to keep us from falling apart, but to provide the boring, stable matrix that makes grandiose goals achievable.
Who else is going to provide this for free?
Who is going to clean up the crap flowing into California wetlandsfrom Mexico?
Here are several wonderful projectsthat are happening because of the work of our State Librarian, Susan Hildreth, and her team.
When your children play in the park, or breathe air, or eat food, do you ever thank the state's Scientific Review Panelfor the fact that your kids' world is a lot healthier than corporate America would like it to be?
Oh, and the Central Valley of California doesn't need these lazy people butting in either, right?
Would you rather these state workers didn't have their cushy jobs? Do you feel better knowing they're going to be doing 10 percent less work, if Ahnold has his way?
I could go on. But I just wanted to make the point: The state workers I am around are far, far from lazy.