Barb’s Burblings

It had been a while since I had seen a certain temp on my floor at work, so I was surprised to see him today. I popped by his cube and said that I thought he was gone forever; he said that he was pretty much–Tuesday’s his last day.
“And then I start on Thursday.”
“Oh good. You have something lined up.”
“Yep, in Bangladesh.”
“…Bangladesh. On Thursday? Two days after you stop here?”
“Yeah, I fly out Tuesday night.”
“…What are you doing in Bangladesh?”
“I’m going to help with the elections.”
(At this point, I probably could’ve asked something about what he was actually going to do, but this isn’t about my issues with social situations.)
And that right there is why I get upset when people start bashing DC. There seems to be an attitude of negativity about people who live in DC–snide comments about lobbyists, jaded insiders, etc. Which blows me away, because I’ve met so many people living here like Sam. Honestly, this is hardly the first conversation I’ve had where the person I’m talking to says something like that.
My theory is that the the three main employers around here are law firms, the federal government, and nonprofits. And the people working at those places are doing what they can to help other people. It’s really amazing what people around here are doing, going to places around the world, raising money to help them, raising awareness of various issues and problems. Seriously, these people blow me away. I feel good about what I do, and the people I’m working for, but a lot of people around here are incredibly amazing.
There’s a lot more than just politics in DC.