This may be obvious, but most people hate their job. Public sector workers think the grass is greener in the private sector. I doubt it is any different. Any job you have to show up for in excess of 25 hrs a week is going to suck a large portion of the time. Hell if I had to ski for 40 hrs a week year after year, I would get pretty darn sick of it. I worked a summer in a remote part of idaho hiking streams for a ecology research grant. I was with my friends all day every day. Man was I sick of counting crap by the end of that summer, despite getting to kayak every day. Bending over is just part of life…not just public employment.