Congress Is a Hostile Workplace

You think your job sucks?

Imagine going to work every day at an office where about half of your colleagues think you’re not just bad at what you do, but that you’re trying to destroy the whole enterprise. In fact, they spend much of their time at work denigrating you to other colleagues, tweeting nasty things about you, and trash-talking you to the media. They even publicly try to get you fired.

By the way, you have to reapply every other year just to keep your job, which means that when you’re not dealing with your antagonistic colleagues, you’re calling everyone you know and many people you don’t, asking them to send you money. Even though that’s effectively part of your job, you’re not allowed to do it at the office—you’ve got to go somewhere else and do it on your own time.

That might make you complain that you’re being made to take your work. Arrive at work too early, and you might see them shambling down the hall in their boxer shorts.