Quote(s):
"A fringe benefit of the Wikileaks scandal is that Americans are getting to see first hand what we in the Foreign Service do.
I'm actually ok with this pay freeze. This is a tough time for all Americans, and I'm happy to do my part. And of course, I recognize that in this economy I'm extremely lucky to have a job I love, and one for which I am compensated adequately. But overpaid? Not by a long shot."
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"(T)hose of you who are in the process of joining the Foreign Service deserve to have as complete a picture as possible about the job you are about to enter. You need to know what might one day be asked of you."
Read her story here.
This is why the Foreign Service is not, despite her phrasing, a job. It is a profession. FSOs are commissioned officers of the United States of America, albeit not military officers, charged by Congress and by the president with certain responsibilities and certain authorities so they may discharge their duties successfully. Moreover, the Foreign Service is more than a profession, just as being a professional military officer is more than a profession; it is a vocation or calling. If you don't hear the call, I can't tell you what it sounds like.
Many foreign service officers, particularly consular officers, can tell you similar stories to this one. I know I can. Mine isn't as horrific as hers, but I' m patient and know that I, or someone very much like me, will be there to do what needs to be done when the time comes to do it. And the time will come, as it always does, in some remote reach where no one ever thinks to see an American consular officer.
Don't worry, one will get there, as soon as one can be gotten there.
There are times where you can't make things better, not one bit; the best you can do is do the things that have to be done, the necessary things, and try to keep things from getting any worse than they already are.
So you do everything you can think of doing, you call everyone you can think of needing to call, and then you go home.
If you're lucky (and I was), you'll have someone at home who can just be there for you as you try to process and decompress enough to get on with the next things that need to be done, the very next day at work. Because they are our countrymen and countrywomen, our fellow Americans, and the whole reason they put us in all these out-of-the-way places and pay our salaries really isn't to interview all those visa applicants and issue all those passports.
Those are just the things you do to fill the time between gut-wrenching heartbreak and going to the morgue or the crash site. They're how you gain letter-perfect knowledge of the applicable laws, authorities, and regulations, so that when crunch time comes, you're ready to act confidently and with dispatch. They're how you make all those personal contacts and fill your Rolodex, so that when you need to reach out for a favor or a service, your call gets answered and your request is granted.
In the final analysis, that's why Hillary and Colin and every secretary of state going back to Ben Franklin has sent us abroad, to do the necessary things our countrymen need us to do, when they simply can't do them for themselves anymore.
Please go over to Four Globetrotters and tell her "Thank you."
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Hat tip to Domani Spero at Diplopundit ("Just one obsessive observer, diplomatic watcher, opinionator and noodle newsmaker monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and the worldwide available universe").
