Beware that "SEND" button!

I work in a government office that is headed by an elected official. This particular official is in the 4th month of a truncated term, as his predecessor left hid term early to take over for another officeholder who fell from grace and was unceremoniously pushed out of office by his party; big deposit, no return, as it were, and so the gave of political monkey move-up continued, this time on a statewide level, as opposed to the same game in our fair capital whereby the same party appoints city council members on a seemingly yearly basis to replace a departing member who has moved on, for better or worse. Last year, the number of appointed city council members currently in office was larger than those who had first been actually elected to that office (election: what a novel concept!).

But, I digress.

Early this morning our work e-mail inboxes received a missive from one of the mid-level muckety-mucks whom all politicians employ in various capacities to annoy the drones and worker bees who do the actual workaday work of the office.

This particular e-mail informed us all that sometime this week we would be receiving a telephone call from a firm that had been hired to conduct a 20-30 minute survey about the office and its functions. A sample of the questions was included, and I enterprisingly went to the company's website to see what I could discover about them.

In a nutshell, the company specializes in "branding" (presumably not with hot irons); image-making and identifying who and what you are (or want to be seen as) is their specialty.

So, a politician who asked to be appointed to an office for which he has little or no apparent qualifications (but he is rather personable) has asked a company (at who's expense?) to interview staff members to determine what each one does, how they want to make the office work, how to change things, and, oh, by the way, what image do you want to project for yourself and the office? What should be the top five goals for the next two years?

We will be asked for our insight and perspectives (emphasis in the original) into the values and goals that are shaping Dear Leader's term in office, and will influence how we craft a mission, vision, and agenda for the years ahead.

This sounds suspiciously like Bill Clinton's weekends early in his first term when it was announced he would spend time "seeking out his core values". Pardon me, but if you don't already have and know them, why are you running for office? Must be for the money and trappings of power.

About an hour after the mid-level muckety-muck sent out her e-mail, we were told to ignore it, as it was only meant for the eyes and ears of the muckety-mucks and higher, and not for the likes of us worker bees.

It seems this staffer does not know the difference between the "Everyone" button and the "Top Secret: Eyes Only for Those in the Know" grouping that is in the e-mail contact lists.

Your tax dollars at work!