when people started raising their eyebrows over the fact that i had taken a position with the government, i shrugged off the concern. after all, i was working with an amazing boss, the pay wasn't half bad (it kept me in shoes and for me, that's enough), and i didn't have to spend every waking hour at work. the uniform was horrible but since i got in after they measured everyone for uniforms, i didn't have to wear them.

life, i thought, was good.

but then right before my dad left, we, together with my brother, had this conversation about my future plans now that i've finally passed the bar. will i go the law firm route? will i do corporate law (everyone in my family wanted me to do this although i absolutely have no talent for it)? will i do HR work (my dream is to work for SM, go figure)? or, gasp, will i stay with the government and continue there until i turn into - insert drumroll here - one of them?

i, of course, defended my decision to stay with the government. forget the fact that i "owed" my boss loyalty considering that she had supported me in all aspects while i reviewed for the bar anew. i believed i was happy and in some perverted way, i believed that the system needed more people like me. i had coasted by law school with a pittance for a tuition fee (P300 per unit, at the best law school) because of government subsidy, so i also believed i owed the government at least a couple of years of my legal career.

recently, however, i've begun to reconsider my decision. partly because we've been recently measured for uniforms and we're due to start wearing them sometime soon and partly because i've realized that nothing i do or say will change the fact that i work for the government and the government can be is the most inefficiently run organization known to man.

people - including me - arrive late. and those who do arrive early, time in, then move on to spend the rest of their morning loitering around the place. people - not including me this time - refuse to do anything beyond what they believe they should be doing. and the lines at the bundy clock thirty minutes before they can actually clock out - so true. (footnote: this really bewilders me. i mean, why would anyone want to actually spend half an hour standing in line in the heat when they can be sitting inside an airconditioned office room?)

and god forbid you slightly offend anyone by asking "who's in charge of doing -insert task here-?" apparently, they're not too big on accountability in the government. on the contrary, the mantra of most government employees - at least in the personnel department of where i work - is "wait until we get to you. not a peep until then. otherwise, you are deemed mean and offensive and hurtful."

so while i treasure the long lunches, the relaxed schedule, and my boss , i've seriously begun considering going back to the private sector. the pay, most definitely, is a major consideration. but more than that, i am so looking forward to working at a place where things get done when they're supposed to be done, where professionalism is the norm, and where hurt feelings aren't used as a currency.