"We’ve Been Told to Make Life as Difficult for People as We Can"

Lots of people who work for the U.S. federal government get paid for helping people, like those who work for the Park Service, chaplains, doctors, nurses and physical therapists, for example. 

That can create tension when a budget impasse temporarily forces them to do the opposite, namely get in the way. 

 “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting,” says one park ranger. If you know people in the Park Service, you know how that will grate with their values. 

One thinks of the Normandy cemetary in France, which is barring visitors, even though, as an outdoor venue, it need not be affected fundamentally by any temporary funding squabbles. Come Sunday, we'll find out whether Catholic priests will be arrested for celebrating mass, a requirement of their calling and a necessity for those receiving the benefits of the mass. 

We'll get through it. But some of us can't help marveling at the pettiness and apparent vindictiveness of some policies, like keeping people from viewing open air monuments, visiting cemeteries and the like. 

In Virginia, some privately-owned institutions have been affected. Private facilities. Funded by private donations. Petty. And yes, "disgusting."