Honesty is the best policy
Oct. 10th, 2008 06:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacealien_vampWe've been taking some actual lessons the past couple days, though a lot of the information is the same as the online lessons I studied before coming here. Our first test is going to be next Wednesday. Some of the instructors are saying specific things like "highlight this" and "you don't have to remember that" to give us an idea of the questions that will be asked. In general, the attitude here is that we don't have to know all the answers, we just have to know how to find the answers.
Another thing they spend a great deal of time on is the concept of integrity, which is one of our Core Values. We had a four-hour lecture on anti-corruption, explaining the kinds of things that can be considered corruption and some of the warning signs and how to report it. For example, if someone who had previously been begging for lunch money suddenly shows up in a flashy new sports car? Yeah, a bit of common sense there. Considering that we have the authority to search people's belongings, vehicles, and even their bodies without any kind of warrant, and we may have the final word on what people and merchandise can enter the country, it's important to keep everyone honest.
Today we are scheduled to have a class on weapon safety, though we won't actually be armed. The most we will have is a knife for cutting open packages to inspect.
Yesterday we were measured for our official uniforms. They are issuing us a certain number of work uniform items and dress uniform items, including our formal "Smokey the Bear" hat (that we will only wear once). We will later be given a "uniform allowance" of several hundred dollars to buy additional items as necessary. The dress code where the uniforms are concerned has a lot of quirky rules. For instance, one may wear an undershirt with the short-sleeved version of the shirt, but it must be white...and one may wear an undershirt with the long-sleeved version of the shirt, but it must be black. Go figure.
My parents are planning to drive down today and stay for the weekend, so we will likely be doing some sightseeing in D.C. I hope the weather stays nice.
Another thing they spend a great deal of time on is the concept of integrity, which is one of our Core Values. We had a four-hour lecture on anti-corruption, explaining the kinds of things that can be considered corruption and some of the warning signs and how to report it. For example, if someone who had previously been begging for lunch money suddenly shows up in a flashy new sports car? Yeah, a bit of common sense there. Considering that we have the authority to search people's belongings, vehicles, and even their bodies without any kind of warrant, and we may have the final word on what people and merchandise can enter the country, it's important to keep everyone honest.
Today we are scheduled to have a class on weapon safety, though we won't actually be armed. The most we will have is a knife for cutting open packages to inspect.
Yesterday we were measured for our official uniforms. They are issuing us a certain number of work uniform items and dress uniform items, including our formal "Smokey the Bear" hat (that we will only wear once). We will later be given a "uniform allowance" of several hundred dollars to buy additional items as necessary. The dress code where the uniforms are concerned has a lot of quirky rules. For instance, one may wear an undershirt with the short-sleeved version of the shirt, but it must be white...and one may wear an undershirt with the long-sleeved version of the shirt, but it must be black. Go figure.
My parents are planning to drive down today and stay for the weekend, so we will likely be doing some sightseeing in D.C. I hope the weather stays nice.
