‘F*** You People’: The Sharply Worded ‘I Quit’ Email Allegedly Penned by Veteran Capitol Hill Staffer

by: Dave Urbanski 

There’s no author name, it’s just attributed to a longtime Capitol Hill staffer.

There are no references to political parties or elected officials, either. No names at all, in fact.

And that just may be why this “I quit” email may resonate with a polarized country that has agreed for a long time on at least one thing: Congress by and large isn’t doing a great job. 

Dated May 9, 2014 with the subject line “Not So Fond Farewell,” the screed was posted by Jezebel blog writer Archibald Perkins, who said it was sent by “a friend of mine, a long-time Hill staffer and policywonk” who gave permission to publish the email as long as revealing information was omitted.

The alleged ex-staffer kicked things off by noting the high probability that no one noticed that he or she had quit the day before.

Then the expletives start flying.

“I’ve been in this business for almost 20 years, and I’ve put up with a lot of s**t. I know that’s not a surprise, but the s**t I’ve endured is its own level of crazy. I’ve f***ing had it.” 

Some highlights:

A few years ago, the entire country was on the brink of a recession and financial meltdown. Congress was about to vote on TARP, but what was the pressing issue in my office? What did we have to have a staff meeting about ASAf***ingP? Appropriate shoe attire. An individual who was about to vote on one of the most historic pieces of legislation didn’t have the courage to face his own staff to discuss his discomfort of heel height.

Then there was the candidate who “couldn’t remember anybody’s name, despite multiple reminders and working with us for almost a f***ing year. While most people think that’s normal for a politician, keep in mind that 15 people like me moved their lives across state lines to work 14 hour days for his semi-literate ass. And the pay was less than minimum wage.”

The writer didn’t just take issue with politicians; a fellow staffer had the spotlight on her as well:

It doesn’t matter what time or what day it is. There’s a 50/50 chance this woman will be at work. And when she does show up, she enjoys a breezy 10:45 AM to 3:30 work day with at least an hour disappearance during lunch. She strategically picked the office that had the back exit so she’d make a show of coming in and then POOF! The first year at that job, I wasn’t sure she existed. 

The rest of the office took bets on how often this woman would answer her phone or email. There was a 30% chance she responded to emails. Out of that response rate, 50% of them were one word responses. The other 50% were responses to questions, but if there were more than two questions in an email, she’d only answer the first two. Phone calls had a 5% answer rate. (We had a math major on staff.)

How did this happen? Life is easy when your husband is the chair of the state’s political party that endorses the boss.

The writer wraps things up, noting that after “nearly two decades of unpaid and underpaid work, student loans for two degrees, late nights, playing therapist/nanny, dealing with angry phone calls, and always being on call,” enough was enough.

Then the sign-off: “F*** you people.”

You can read the whole thing here.

This story has been updated.

(H/T: Jezebel)