Beneath the White House

At the end of the normal work day, the real work begins.

It’s six p.m., the White House staff has left for the day. The cleaning crew begins their rounds. They begin by doing the usual dusting, wiping down the computer screens, gathering dirty glasses, ashtrays, etc.

Then the important work begins, the wastebaskets are emptied. They must make sure that specific trash is emptied in a special way. All papers are placed into the bin for shredding. Other misc. garbage is then emptied into plastic bags so it can be separated for recycling. Once this is completed, every bag and bin is taken down to the second level basement and placed in its proper receptacle. What is not usual work, is the viewing of the papers left in neat little piles on the desk of each secretary. In order to be sure of placing the neat little piles back exactly as they were, one of the cleaning people carefully marks each spot with furniture spray. Then the magic happens .

The group huddles together to discuss how they will begin in solving the problems, rewriting memos, bills for legislature, etc., whatever is the pressing issue of the day. Each paper is carefully reviewed for its importance, its value, how it will benefit the average “Joe”. The rewritten document is changed only enough to be able to pass close scrutiny should the President, the Secretary or some other White House staff chooses to review it. Supervisor of the night shift, Evelyn’s task is making sure the document is typed precisely in the format that the secretaries have structured.

Upon the completion of the night's work, all documents are placed back on the proper desks for signatures of the White House personnel responsible, including the signature of the President.

As the months go by the Administration is commended by the media and public for having such strength, for having the insight, for having the guts to stand up for, to believe in and to listen to the “people” of this “great nation”.

The Administration and its staff go for months never picking up on any of the “doings” in the basement below them. Being self-centered and egotistical, they take all the praises, compliments and credit for a job well done.

But as luck would have it, a camera catches Evenlyn returning and fixing papers on the desk of the President’s secretary and thus the secret is out.

If the Administration reveals that they know, all hell would break out. It is now a full scale effort to assure that this knowledge never leave the White House. The cover-up plot is hatched... To keep the secret and keep them from being outed for their incompetence, a little extra would show up in the paychecks of the ‘basement politicians’ and no-one would be the wiser…

The nature of the ‘beast’ is to protect himself …therefore nothing shall be said, each Administration staffer who has knowledge of this dilemma is sworn to secrecy and threatened with unspeakable aftermath should they mention one word to anyone, including to each one who knows….

Satisfied with their accomplishments, they continue to work their magic. However, the abundance of changes and re-writes had become a little more of a directional part-time job. The powers that be are now using their control of the pocket-book to assure that the evening staff writes just enough to keep them looking good and in favor with the citizens.

This is not at all what the evening staff wanted...it is not what they set out to do. They are being manipulated to do a job they had enjoyed and believed in without guilt. It was quite difficult for them to decide not to continue their secret anymore. The decision also meant their 'extra' financial windfall would be reversed to its regular state. Keeping their jobs, being honest to what they believed in was more important than the few extra 'pennies ' in their pockets. They were also citizens being affected by the administration who cared little for anyone. They thought about the Bible verse "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul"

With that in mind , they would return to their normal usual work duties. They had no desire to speak of what went on beneath the White House. They would keep the knowledge that there was a time when they became the voice...a voice for the people...