Pat Topping Dances a Jig thanks to Uncle Sam

Hello

The 6/4 Telegraph tells us there is a rosy scenario for jobs in Middle Georgia. Robins AFB will have a slew of retirees very soon and Pat Topping of the Chamber of Commerce says it is worth several "Brown and Williamsons" in the number of jobs created by attrition.

Once again we see how this town relies too much on Robins AFB. What I would have done had I been Mr. Topping is to say, "Good but not great." We are relying on the federal government to prop up this rotting town and sluggish midstate as we have been for sixty years.

I remember a BRAC-related meeting in which George Israel said that people in the old days felt "to get on (get a job) at the base is to have arrived" Yes- arrived at a potential salary and workplace booby-trap.

Firstly, Robins AFB isn't quite likely to close. It may cut back some aspects but not close. Sadly jobs outside of Robins AFB are scarcer and scarcer. That is, unless you love working retail and getting yelled at on a daily basis as you have coworkers lacking your work ethic. Unfortunately the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce is too lazy to get white-collar jobs into the midstate, let alone skilled blue-collar employment.

Here's how the "base" will be a lower-paid hell in which to work. With workers unable to find alternate employment and the prevailing local wage being lowered, Robins AFB's supervisors can treat workers like a dog and pay what they wish. And not always is the laggard working next to you going to get disciplined.

Just try to get a job at Robins AFB. It's who you know not what you know or can do. A Wal-Mart manager, when I put that down on a psychology exam when applying there, wondered if I ad worked at Robins. I am not jealous of Robins AFB's workers or their jobs. I know several people who prefer private enterprise and its more direct, if still flawed, results-oriented microeconomy.

I don't want to ruin a good Letter to the Editor so I'm shutting up.