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I am a bureaucrat, and I feel the need to correct you on one thing; you, the person sitting in front of me, are not my boss. My boss is the the people of the State for whom I work, and I work for the interests of all of them. This includes you, but it's not limited to you. I don't like sending people away unhappy, believe me. It's often soul-crushing, especially in the job I work. But I dislike treating people unequally far more, and that's what a lot of the requests to disregard the rules I get amount to. It never ceases to amaze me how many of the people who complain about inflexible bureaucrats are also the same ones who complain about corruption when someone greases the wheels for a customer who's not them. Can't have it both ways.

In an era with people like Trump and Bannon wanting to turn the government into patronage factories, it's more important than ever that the rules be maintained, even if it means people figure I'm a lazy parasite. If that makes you angry, I recommend calling your state legislature. I just do what they tell me to do, after all.

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