Grueling Schedules Taking Their Toll On West Wing Staffers

Washington Post:

The White House mess -- the military-inspired term for the West Wing cafeteria -- opens at 7 a.m. each day. And each day, there is a long line of hungry staffers who have already been at the office for well over an hour.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Weirdwriter]

Lordy. This can't be good. Humans need a decent amount of REM sleep, balanced meals at regular times, some veg-out time -- and a life apart from workworkwork. They're putting their country first, but that can only go so far for the sake of health and sanity.

When the Sore Losers whine about "nothing" getting done I hope they remember -- it's not for lack of trying in the West Wing.

[t iessa]

I don't know doubt that these people put in a lot of hours or are trying to accomplish something. The problem seems to be lack of direction. I think they, nor their higher-ups, have a clue about what to do to straighten out this mess Bush left us.

You are mistaken to think that only McCain backers are unhappy. You ought to get out and talk to people who have different opinions than you do. You would be surprised.

[t iessa]

Obviously I rephrased and didn't delete the word "know." Sorry.

[Altruth]

Congress take note!

[Altruth]

To President Obama and his Team, Thank you all very much for your service and hard work!

[pc51]

That's a joke, right?

[anothervoice]

No. Jokes have a punchline at the end... ...kind of like the day you were born.

[ljc]

Miserable, cynical, predictable, pathetic remark as usual.

[Roguewolf]

Remember when Barack Obama told Americans that Joe Biden would keep track of every dime of the stimulus? Remember when ol' Joe himself appeared on television and announced the new website to help him account for the money, if he just knew what the "numbers" of the website address were to give to people? It turns out the one place that is going to see a major influx of stimulus money is Joe Biden's stimulus tracking website. It is currently dysfunctional, and is slated to get an $18 million dollar taxpayer-paid for makeover. In case you aren't in the website design field, let me tell you. $18 million dollars can not only build you a top notch website, it can build you about 20 top notch websites. In Ghana, Obama defended his stimulus plan, and make no mistake, this is his albatross, by saying, "It has already extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have lost their jobs in this recession." The problem is, that's not what the stimulus was intended to do. It was all about job creation - shovel-ready work projects. Extending the welfare safety net isn't economic stimulus. It's welfare extension. Here"s the clincher: Year-to-date, Dow Jones stocks are off 7 percent, while China stocks are up 71 percent. The world index is up 4 percent. Emerging markets are up 25 percent. They"re all beating us. None of this is good. We"re going the wrong way.

[Weirdwriter]

We know. It's all goin' to heck in a handcart. Our votes were wasted. Send out the call for -- the maverick, yes, Sen. John Don't-Know-Nuthin'-'Bout-No-Economy McCain!

Yes! With that brilliant plan for economic rescue crafted by those astute fellows in the Republican Party we are bound to see success in a few short weeks where there has been nothing to speak of in not-quite 7 months.

After all, took only 8 years to ruin the economy. How hard could it be? Tsk, tsk.

[george389]

why do you copy and paste this on different topics? it's not like you actually wrote it

[TXfemmom]

I feel for all of them. If Obama wants these people to be at their best, he should insist that every staffer who can do so stay away and give their things to their backups for one day a week. That gives them enough time to really get to sleep, wake up refreshed at a decent hour, have breakfast or dinner with their family and to just unwind. Have their communication sytem with them so they can be contacted at a moment's notice, but let them refresh and feel like a human for a few days a week. I saw and lived through horrendous hours as a medical professional and my baby seemed to have radar and would cry all night long the night before 24 hour call and all night long the night after it.

Sleep deprivation means not being your best, and these guys and Obama need for them to be on top of their game.

[HamletsMill]

They should all have a work-from-home day one day a week like where i work. It really helps. And productivity often goes up. Study what Best Buy did.

[anothervoice]

I'm thinking the same thing. And you would not believe how much a break for a hot shower helps before getting back to work, especially on a long work day.

[janeInCA]

Thanks for your dedicated services to the country.

[Keurgui]

Great people serving their country. You have my support and my respect, keep up doing the good work. Thank You.

[LaShanda Jackson]

Wow...I guess our hand wringing certainly doesn't help! Thank you!

[HamletsMill]

Any staffers reading this, thank you very, very much for your hard work! We are pulling for you. Please take the time to study this below presentation some time over the next 30 days so you will be focused on the scope of the economic crisis situation you are in. Again, my thanks to you for your service to our country.

CRASH COURSE IN ECONOMICS 101

http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse

[flyribbon]

Thank you all for your service.

[chevyval]

To any Staffers reading this: thank you for all you do for our country. I mean it.
Maybe try TM for 20 minutes every once in a while. It really helps with rest.

[wdcvhi]

Co-Sign.

[anothervoice]

Second, with a big thank you.

[planetjeffy]

Wow, Bushies worked long hours...who knew.

I guess a lot of energy goes into the destruction
of the US economy, justice system, armed forces,
reputation, constitution, planet....

[TXfemmom]

Article after article and insiders reported that Bush was out of the office and in the family quarters by 6 p.m. most nights and in bed at 10 p.m. I don't know how that could be construed as long hours and he took more vacation days than any three other Presidents combined.