LETTER: Customer is right

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 4, 2026

I had occasion to visit the Clallam County courthouse recently. I interacted with several very nice and helpful people there, but one was different than them.

Having spent my second career in the employ of the federal government, I have some perspective to share. Every public servant is in the employ and therefore beholden to the public.

In every interaction between a public servant and a member of the public, the public is the boss. The only exception to this is unless a crime or articulable suspicion of a crime is a reason for the encounter.

No city, county, state or federal employee ever has the need to be rude to any member of the public.

Sure, you are a person, and with that comes an expectation of dignity due any other member of society, but if you are out of line and need to be corrected by a member of the public, you better learn to take it or quit.

The old adage is, the customer is always right.

Remember, every citizen is your customer.

Mark A. White

Port Angeles