It Pays The Bills
Two computer programmers spend 2 months developing applications, database processes, design plans, and so forth. Three analysts utilize said applications to parse through an ocean of data, painstakingly resolving anomaly after anomaly for several weeks. Thousands of work-hours, at least 2 dozen meetings, and countless creative resolutions are poured into a product that is distilled and aggregrated down to this end result:
During one standard Thursday meeting, a mid-level government bureaucrat is presented with a single number: “173.” To which he replies, “That’s about what I expected. Moving right along…”