# I'm a federal bureaucrat! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 25, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460 "2009-09-25T02:20:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/1 "2009-09-25T02:20:07Z")
…or will be, anyway, starting in mid-October. Received my appointment letter today, for a law clerk position in a Large Federal Agency that shall (at least for the moment) remain nameless. I am psyched. 😃 I went to law school because, sappy as it sounds, I wanted to be a public servant - and now I am one. That rocks. Anyway, I just wanted to say - thank you, AmeriDopers, for paying (a portion of) my salary. And health insurance premiums. Oh, and for contributing to my Thrift Savings Plan. And the paid vacation time, as well as the federal holidays, are a particularly nice touch. 😃 Thanks, folks! ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/2 "2009-09-25T02:53:31Z")
Welcome to the club! Don’t forget the paid training and relocations! C.p.–8 years, gov’t stooge. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/3 "2009-09-25T03:11:26Z")
Congratulations! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/4 "2009-09-25T03:47:20Z")
> [@Countrypolitan](#): > > Welcome to the club! Don’t forget the paid training and relocations! > > C.p.–8 years, gov’t stooge. Thanks! But are we stooges or drones? I’d rather thought of myself as a soulless drone. ---
**Author:** ![MissIntent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/97f17d/32.png) [@MissIntent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissIntent)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/5 "2009-09-25T03:49:19Z")
I’m jealous, I’m about two years away from finishing my masters and then I can apply to be a federal drone (stooge?). It has been my goal for quite a while. Congratulations!! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/6 "2009-09-25T04:38:16Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > And the paid vacation time You know, it only gets good after fifteen years. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/7 "2009-09-25T15:13:36Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > You know, it only gets good after fifteen years. 😉 12/16 will be 23 years for me - not that I’m counting or anything! ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/8 "2009-09-25T15:50:12Z")
I was a federal employee for 30 years before I took early retirement. The best part (besides the job security) was that I wasn’t required to use my leave in week-long segments, which meant I could take a lot of Fridays, and the occasional Monday, off for weekend trips. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/9 "2009-09-25T16:14:03Z")
Congratulations! I got in through the clerkship program as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/10 "2009-09-25T16:20:00Z")
To the OP, will you be living in the DC area? Or as a Fed somewhere in America? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/11 "2009-09-25T16:50:38Z")
Welcome! You will be assimilated. I have played trivia with a bunch of co-workers as the “Faceless Bureaucrats”, so you could consider that nickname. October will make 19 years of Federal Service for me. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/12 "2009-09-25T17:57:17Z")
Six years for me. I’m never leaving. When you’re a federal lawyer working against private firms, it’s especially sweet just going home for the weekend, when you know they’ll be working the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/13 "2009-09-26T07:22:10Z")
Congrats! Uh, any of you fed lawyers got a job for me out there? –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/14 "2009-09-26T10:42:33Z")
I hit 35 years last July. I could retire in January, but I’m hanging around for a few more years - at least till I get my house re-roofed. I’m an engineer, not a lawyer, and 11 of my years were in uniform, but still, my entire adult life has been spent in government service, and it’s been a pretty good career. I’ve dealt with my share of crap, but watching my spousal unit deal with the ins and outs of being an engineer in private industry, well, it more than made up for the crap. And it’s nice being told “No, we’re not authorizing overtime, so don’t come in this weekend…” And due to the nature of my work, I can’t bring it home either. I love my job! ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/15 "2009-09-26T23:12:50Z")
I prefer Stooge–someone’s always trying to poke my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/16 "2009-09-27T00:26:37Z")
I am a mere state government employee, but welcome to the ranks! It doesn’t _always_ have to be “good enough for government work.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-federal-bureaucrat/511460/17 "2009-09-30T03:09:27Z")
Have you been fitted for your hobnailed jackboots yet? No, seriously - congrats, and thank you for your service to our country.