WASHINGTON POST must read: Sinkhole of bureaucracy »
There’s an old mine in Pennsylvania where the U.S. processes federal retirements. By hand. On paper. In 2014.
You need to read this story for yourself.. it’s about a federal government office in Boyers, PA, employing about 600 or so people. That isn’t the weird part—though if you’ve ever been to Boyers you may think it is..
The really odd story is this: The office is 230 feet under the ground. Elevator music plays constantly.. It’s not top secret, it’s just ….230 feet under the grown because. And even more: The old mine’s tunnels *now an office* are filled with 28,000 file cabinets of paper. All of the work done, as a matter of fact, is on paper. All by hand. Nothing technological about this underground cavern of hell..
The Washington POST reports this:
The existence of a mine full of federal paperwork is not well known: Even within the federal workforce, it is often treated as an urban legend, mythic and half-believed. “That crazy cave,” said Aneesh Chopra, who served as President Obama’s chief technology officer.
Mythic.. unbelievable. But real. And filled with 28,000 FILE CABINETS OF PAPER.
Get this ONE:
The staff working in the mine has increased by at least 200 people in the past five years. And the cost of processing each claim has increased from $82 to $108, as total spending on the retirement system reached $55.8 million.
Are you beyond shocked yet?
It gets better.. From the aspect of human interaction, this is the amazing part: These people who work here seem to be miserable and filled with darkness. During the cold winter time, they don’t actually see light. They go to work in the dark, go 200+ feet under the ground, and go home in the dark.. the POST points out,
So there is a pizza guy, with a security clearance, who arrives every day at 11:30 a.m. Another vendor, Randy Armagost, trucks in hot lunches and an assortment of at least four deep-fried items every day.“People are crabby. They’re miserable. I mean, you can’t blame them. They never see any sunlight,” Armagost said. “I’m only down there for 2 ½ hours a day, and I can’t stand it.”
Even the pizza guy hates it.
Just imagine if this was your workplace:
For 600 federal workers, it is.