Government workers: Please show some respect

Re: “Government worker payroll shockingly high,” (TNT letter, 2/7).

I just read the letter from the gentleman wanting to know how many people in Washington are”on the dole” as government employees.

I just retired after 40 years working for the Department of Social and Health Services, and I want to clear up two things.

The first is that the individuals and families served at DSHS are human beings like you and me. They are our friends, relatives and next-door neighbors.

Second is the size of our paychecks. I was told years ago if you want to get rich don’t go to work for the state. I worked hard my whole career, went years without cost-of-living raises while watching rent, gas and food prices climb.

I was a single parent and lived very much paycheck to paycheck. I worked with many other coworkers over the years and none were rich financially.

We did our jobs because of our commitment to the people we served.