Must be a lotta angry bureaucrats in the southern Taiwanese county of Tainan right about now...
The Tainan County Government implemented a trend-setting measure yesterday by requiring its staff to clean their office bathrooms.
Despite protests from some bureaucrats, County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said he would stand by his decision as part of his effort to promote good public hygiene practices throughout the county.
Many county employees came to work 30 minutes early, dressed in casual clothes, to clean the toilets. Su took the lead by cleaning the bathrooms next to his office.
First, a little backstory: Elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan save money on janitorial staff by having their students clean the bathrooms. Recently though, a few Tainan County schools decided to contract outside firms because the students didn't seem to care much for the job. When the county commissioner heard what the school administrators were up to, he tried to shame them into abandoning their plans by demonstrating that even county bureaucrats are required to do that sort of work:
"I think county officials should set a good example for the younger generation by cleaning up their office restrooms themselves," [Su] said. "I hope all county residents can adopt good toilet habits and etiquette."
Now, I'm sure that a lot of people reading this will be saying to themselves, "Make government bureaucrats clean toilets? Hmm! Why didn't we think of that?"
Before you get too enthusiastic though, just consider this scenario: Take a bunch of civil servants who have passed a grueling set of government examinations to get jobs that have traditionally excluded janitorial work. Now, make them mop up backed-up toilets.
Oh, and the kicker is that they've got to come to work 30 minutes early in order to do it. At no extra pay.
Maybe the commissioner will succeed in making the schools back down, but thank Heaven none of MY paperwork will ever cross his employees' desks.
You think bureaucrats have a reputation for surliness now? Man, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
But I haven't come to the best part yet. You see, the Commish is so enamored of his revolutionary, trend-setting idea that he believes he can save the county even more money by appealing to the altruistic instincts of other virtuous citizens in the county:
Su said he would launch a campaign to recruit volunteers to clean all public lavatories in the county to replace the current outsourcing practice. (Emphasis added)
In loo of any serious comment, I just have to say, Mr. Su, I think urine luck. How could a campaign like that ever tank? After all, the world's overflowing with starry-eyed idealists - people who are flush with that good-old can-doo spirit.
Of course, the worst case is that not enough people will be Johnny-on-the-spot. That'd present a wee bit of a problem. If that happens, my Number One suggestion would be that you provide a set of incentives so that people don't let this fabulous op-pooh-tunity go to waste.
As an initial measure, might I propose offering partial course credits for those currently working on their Pee-h.D.s?
