Dear Editor,
With all the news regarding DOGE efforts and termination of federal employees, I would just like to remind readers that federal employees are real people. I am one of them. I am a nurse practitioner who has served nearly 13 years for the Veterans Health Administration.
Did you know that healthcare workers are the single largest category of federal employees? I currently provide telemedicine services to veterans. I may soon be forced to commute over two hours each day to do this in a cubicle in some random building, instead of remotely.
This is not efficient, nor will it improve care. It would actually cost us as taxpayers more money to pay for new office furniture and my daily utility usage, which I currently provide myself. My productivity and performance have always been regularly monitored, even more so than when I used to work in the private sector.
Elon Musk claims part of the purpose of the weekly “5 things” emails is to prove we’re all real, and not dead or zombies falsely collecting paychecks. This is insulting and meant to distract us from acknowledging the truth that federal employees — each of us — are real people doing the work that we have been assigned. I am not part of some “deep state” conspiracy.
I am your neighbor. I have coached your daughters’ youth sports teams. I dine and shop at the local businesses you own. All of my colleagues are just like me.
Emily Bednar, Greensboro