I work out of an office that houses 11 others that do what I do. There is also a Chief and a Deputy Chief.
Everyone pretends to like each other all the while toiling away for a government agency that could care less about them. I’ve sat and studied how the real dynamics of the office works. The deputy chief (DC) is a conniving little snake. He makes moves now that will benefit him later. He has worked his way into being very close to a very powerful upper management person by looking and saying the right things. The Chief (C) is spineless. She is scared to make any decisions, but she is more afraid of the DC because of his connection to upper management. The DC runs the show.
The way they moved into their positions was by gossiping about the former Chief (FC), who had taken sick days that he earned. They complained amongst the common folk (regular employees) that him taking off, “makes more work for us”. Keep in mind that the FC had the earned days and was using them because of PTSD and other health issues related to 2 combat deployments!
The regular joes, like myself, loath the DC and strongly dislike the C because she jello behind a desk. However, everyone plays the game and fake laughs when they need to. I’ve been their almost 18 years. I got 7 more. Sometimes I feel like I am legit doing time in prison and have no idea how I am going to be able to tolerate the next 7 years.
I’m sorry for ranting but it is just and example of how we do everything backwards in the USA and wonder why people are miserable.