We went to some of the Reaching Out conference this year. Non-profit Management students are quite the different crowd than MBA students, but that's a different post.
At the Saturday lunch keynote Christie Vianson talked about bringing your whole self to work, and how it's more satisfying for everyone if this can happen. Where I work now, I definitely feel more comfortable being my whole self.
My question is, in public service, can you really do this? Even as a librarian, anyone who works with the public, you can't really tell patrons about yourself, or even wear anything, or act any way that might give them a hint of who you are. Sometimes it's possible, and nothing bad happens, but once in a while, giving out any information goes terribly wrong. People make assumptions if they know your age, education, gender, etc. I think direct public service is easiest if you're a complete enigma.
I know it's weird, and sort of impossible sounding, but when someone comes to the reference desk in a public library, there's a lot of judging that goes on, and it's really best to be as completely indecipherable as possible.