I Can Do a Better Job … Just Watch Me

Here is what’s wrong with Governmental Bureaucracy…

Imagine I am employed by the Federal Government and I am assigned the task of coming up with the wording for an Executive Order that will tell all government employees that they should not Text Message while driving a government vehicle. I am given this assignment 10 minutes before quitting time.

Being well qualified for my assigned responsibilities (as are all bureaucrats) I immediately put my nose to the ole grindstone. As is usually the case, I am at Happy Hour 5 minutes after quitting time.

Here is what I came up with, “All government employees are not allowed to text message while driving government vehicles”.

Did I do well? I think I did, if I do say so myself.

On October 1, 2009 our federal government issues an Executive Order that addressed this same subject…
• It is 3 pages long.
• It contains 1,071 words.
• It is much harder to understand than my 13 words above.

To belabor the point even further, here is the part that defines “Driving”…
“(c) "Driving" means operating a motor vehicle on an active roadway with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic light or stop sign, or otherwise. It does not include operating a motor vehicle with or without the motor running when one has pulled over to the side of, or off, an active roadway and has halted in a location where one can safely remain stationary.”

They just used 69 words to define “driving” while I used 13 words to put to bed the entire Executive Order.

In case you want to read all 1,071 words of the official Executive Order on Texting, go to…
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/other/other/Federal_Leadership_On_Reducing_Text_Messaging_While_Driving.pdf

If you do take the time to read the entire 1,071 words, as you are reading them, keep thinking to yourself…“All government employees are not allowed to text message while driving government vehicles”. Enough is enough.

Would I kid u?