Here is what I mean by this. Out of all the times I’ve been to a doctor, been visited by a cop, called the cops, been to court, went to school, and so on, I’ve realized lately that I haven’t had a single good experience with any of them.
Doctors either always tell me nothing is wrong when something is wrong or said something was wrong when something wasn’t. Got traumatic brain injury? Oh it’s just a bonk on the head. Got blue balls? Bring em in, doc needs money. The presence of doctors here is so inconsistent with recovery from things like illnesses that the place resembles the stereotypical Sparta-obsessed fascist nation where hospitals don’t exist by design.
Police and courts will give you no luck at all stemming from having absolutely no consistency with how they deal with things whatsoever. I’ve seen child abuse cases where babies are left with behavioral issues that mirror those child rehoming documentaries and the abuser gets two months, while also seeing small cases of assault that lead to two years. I’ve had instances where I ask police about something they can do. “We’ll look into it” they say. Nothing happens. The next thing that happens, they’re blaming me for a dead tree from my yard with a branch that snapped off and fell on a neighbor’s fence, and I go to get sentenced.
My teachers were like these examples too. Did I benefit even once from my teachers? No. Did I benefit from the social environment? No. Did they treat me like Mr. Burns treats Homer? All the time. They didn’t see me as a person, they saw me as a goal. And they would never mind cheating their own rules to achieve it.
And the moment they don’t think they have a job to do regarding you, the same jobs they half-ass anyways, they treat you less like an individual to remember and from time to time treat as an equal human and more like a bird you pushed out of a nest without intent to hear from them again. And I didn’t realize this until recently, that I have no positive experiences with public servants. Makes me almost not want to work.
Anyone else?
YATA
I wasn’t wondering about that though.
I’m with you on cops and doctors.
But, I’ll disagree with teachers. I’m sorry that you never had a good experience with one, but I know of quite a few that are truly in it to help the students. There’s shit heads in every occupation, but I wouldn’t group teachers with people in the legal or medical systems.
Nope, I have had positive and negative experiences with all of the examples and the DMV, IRS, etc. Some are overwhelmingly negative (police), but even then there were a couple of positive interactions. The rest are rarely negative, although a lot are tedious because of beaurocracy.
Note: I am not part of a group that is regularly discriminated against and I absolutely believe someone could have zero positive experiences with the police, and possibly some of the others.
Nope, in my case I’ve had good experiences with them. The important thing to consider here is that these authorities aren’t a monolith, they’re individuals. How one cop deals with something can vary vastly compared to how another cop will deal with it, teachers will often have their own style of teaching and level of competency, et cetera.
I’ve had great interactions with doctors. All the time.
On the very few occasions I’ve ever been visited by a cop (once?) it was fine. Couldn’t call it life affirming or anything, but it was polite and respectful both ways.
I’ve had some incredible teachers over the years. My 6th grade math teacher stands out. My biology teacher in high school was also my swim coach, and he was lots of fun. I had some good teachers in college. I had some good teachers in the Army.
I mean I’m not going to pretend the army was a good time, but there were lots of good people in it.
I don’t think I’ve ever really been to court. One time I got called in for jury duty and sat there for 4 hours and that was that. It was fine, you know?
Are there bad examples of all these things out there? Hell yes. Because ask of these people are human just like the rest of us. They have good and bad days. Some are sadistic assholes, others are empathetic and kind - probably just like wherever you are and whatever you do with yourself.
There is one thing I believe holds true. If you see assholes everywhere you go, you’re the problem.
I’ve had some bad ones (the DMV near my university) along with some good ones (the good folks at Service Ontario where I got DMV-like things done - they’re so polite, friendly, and helpful!).
Someone smarter than me said: if you smell shit everywhere you go, check your shoes.
I’m pretty sure public sector performability is objectively measurable as opposed to assholery. I’m not strictly talking about that, I mean people literally doing what their contract or job description promises.
Your experiences are anecdotal. They don’t tell us anything about the performance of all public servants. Perspective is important.
Your experiences are anecdotal.
by pulishing them they become measurable, which also removes the “anecdotal” flag with numbers, also maybe ask archaeologists how much of an evidence a complain written in papyrus actually is a “while” after it was written.
also the studies that found out “why” public services don’t serve in the first place have become quite old* meanwhile, which is the very opposite of anecdotal, but nothing was done so far to change the known state of not serving services for decades, so why should they have changed without changing actions affecting them?
*) i read parts of them >20 years ago and the studies observations and conclusions i read fitted 100% of what i personally experienced/witnessed from within a family “working” in such services.
I don’t trust cops. Even when they are nice to you they’re not your friend, trust me.
Have a good relationship with doctors. I have met some arrogant doctors but for the most part they’ve treated me with kindness.
Psychiatric doctors on the other hand have never been open to hearing me. As my diagnosis isn’t one that’s officially recognized in my country. And the treatment options aren’t well developed here either. CPTSD.
Thankfully I do have a good relationship with my primary care doctor and a decent understanding of pharmacology myself so he helps me with stuff that he can help me with.
Teachers were hit or miss for me. College professors generally much better as they should treat you like an adult.
I’m also white and was male presenting for most of my life. People’s perception of gender and perception of race will definitely affect how they treat you, unfortunately.
