Nope,
It doesn't sound mean or testy. It actually sounds quite human. Your opinion of public employees was interesting. I don't work for anyone but myself now (thank God), but I have in the past worked both in the private sector and in the public sector.
The place where I had to work the hardest was with the public sector. One thing that I got tired of hearing was "I'm paying your salary." I was able to figure out a good response to that one. Let's say the person saying it was a waitress. I'd just say, "Well, thank you, and you know, everytime I go eat at your restaurant, I'm paying yours." That would always stop and make them think.
I met people like you who hated the public sector. I'm not saying that this is you, but usually it was people who were pretty self-sufficient and who just HATED the various laws and restrictions that they had to work under. And if it was someone who REALLY hated the public sector, it was usually someone who had gotten his chops knocked off trying to circumvent some law. I was usually on the side of the person who got his chops kicked, which is one reason I couldn't stay with the public sector for too many years. It's kind of bad when Sunday night rolls along and your stomach gets tied in knots because you're dreading Monday morning so much. For some people it didn't seem to bother them, but for me, it did.
And the smartest people that I worked with were in the public sector. I remember my first day on the job, going into the cafeteria and almost everyone there had their nose stuck in a book. Public employees are people like everyone else. Most truly want to do a good job and most work their butts off.
