The Burnaby NOW receives a lot of letters to the editor on a wide array of topics, from the Trans Mountain project to littering to anything involving trees.
The No. 1 topic, of course, is about how the City of Burnaby does its business, often with the subject line, “angry taxpayer.”
There are a lot of “angry taxpayers” out there and they begrudge everything the city does and every cent it spends.
Fair enough.
But one recent letter writer is trying to tell City of Burnaby workers that they aren’t allowed to let off a little steam on their social media feeds.
This writer, Jen, wrote to me about a certain city worker who I am not going to name because I have no issue with what they did.
Jen sent screenshots and a long screed detailing how this city worker posts on their private Facebook page with sarcastic comments about their dealings with Burnaby residents.
The comments, according to the screenshots I received (I’ve attached a sample), are not nice. They range from “idiotic people” to “f***ing idiotic b***h taxpayers” to, my favourite, plain old “dumbass.”
“I would like an explanation from the municipality as to why their employee would name us so rudely,” Jen wrote.
Well, haven’t you ever vented on social about the people you deal with at work?
I know I’m sarcastic on Twitter about certain interactions with readers. OK, I’m a lot more polite about it, but there are some letters, calls and messages that I find infuriating so I get why someone would vent about the people they deal with at work. It can wear on a person.
“It is critical that you understand that I expect all staff members at the government to engage in polite and courteous interactions with everyone whom they come in contact, that is work related,” Jen wrote. “It is appalling to see an employee of such a respected municipality to behave in such a manner.”
So, this brings up an important point. Jen is talking about interactions while this worker is on the job. That, of course, is a different matter. If this worker is rude to people at work and bad at their job, then yes, the city should take action.
But comments on a private Facebook page? Well, it’s not great and they should probably dial it back, but people should be free to vent about work on a private page. The comments aren’t racist or homophobic. They are not threatening to harm anyone.
People seem to think that city workers are beholden to taxpayers in ways that other workers aren’t. City workers are not flawless. They make mistakes. They aren’t always easy to deal with. But they also take an enormous amount of abuse from the general public – people who feel that because they pay taxes they are entitled to shout at them.
So, sure, perhaps this worker should tone things down – maybe get some counselling to help them enjoy their work again - but I have a great deal of sympathy for what they go through each day and a private Facebook page is their private place.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
