I had to go to the District Court a few years ago to take care of a small piece of business. The building directory was confusing, but I thought I identified the right department. Voters would appreciate
a little courtesyI found myself at a long counter that was unstaffed. There was a large office area behind the counter, but the dozen or so employees had put up folding screens to shield themselves from the public. I could hear activity and see the tops of heads bobbing above the screens, but workers ignored me.
I started to get antsy after about five minutes when a court employee who entered the office through a side door clearly saw me waiting at the counter, but scurried behind the screens before I could try to get her attention.
Another guy showed up to wait for service and we grew agitated together. Three more people joined the line.
After 20 minutes of waiting, I went to the next counter and asked the lady there if she would mind telling the clerks responsible for our counter that we were waiting.
"That's a different department," she said. "I don't work there."
"I know," I said, "but we don't have any other way of letting them know we're here. You could stick your head behind the screens and tell them."
She returned to her paperwork and ceased to acknowledge my existence.
Another guy in line cranked up his vocal cords. "Yo! In the back!" he shouted. "There are people out here!"
Finally, a half hour after I had arrived, a grumpy clerk came out to take care of us. His mood brightened when he was able to tell four of the five of us that we were in the wrong place and had to go stand in line someplace else.
A couple of weeks ago, I had to do a similar bit of business with a city department. I called for information, but couldn't raise a live human being and had to leave voice-mail messages.
When two days passed and nobody returned my calls, I was steamed. I called Mayor Jeremy Harris' Office of Information and Complaint with the intention of complaining loudly.
About two sentences into my tirade, the fellow who answered the phone politely interrupted me. "Wait, sir," he said. "I have the information you need. Let me give it to you."
He told me where I had to go and how to get my business done in the least amount of time.
What struck me most was that it took the fellow from the mayor's office far less time to give me the information I needed than it took the people at the court to treat me rudely.
This is an important issue facing public employees. Perhaps rightly, they feel overworked, underpaid and unappreciated.
But taking their frustration out on the public they serve can only add to their problems. My encounter with the District Court left a lasting poor impression of the work ethic and manners of public employees. Almost anybody you meet can tell a similar story about a nightmarish encounter with government.
IT doesn't inspire people to support big pay raises for public employees. It does build support for privatizing government services.
It's amazing how big and lasting a wound a little rudeness can leave. It took some professionalism and courtesy from the mayor's office to make me realize that my view of public employees was unfairly negative based on one incident that happened several years ago.
Public employees will have a lot more luck improving their lot if the kind of professional and friendly service provided by the mayor's office becomes the routine.