Friday, April 25, 2008

The Accountant's Catharsis

I finally figured out why I chose to study accounting.

Sure, it pays well. Yeah, I'll be able to live anywhere in the country and find a job. And one day, of course, it will allow me to provide for a family, or at least for myself. While this is what attracted me to to accounting, it's not why I chose it.

I guess I could study something that I actually enjoy, like English or Sociology or even French. So why not study one of those subjects? Because they require opinions. They require thought. And they require emotion. Feeling. And emotion and feeling are things that, frankly, I've had quite enough of. I chose accounting because somehow I knew that I would need something in my life that would provide an escape from disappointment and hurt, happiness and love.

Numbers don't feel. They don't hurt if you neglect them. They don't swell with joy when you tell them you love them. They don't care if you hate them. When you touch them you can't send a chill down their spine because you can't touch them and they don't have spines. Numbers don't feel; they simply exist.

7 comments:

  1. Disclaimer: Don't read into this too much.

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  2. numbers might not feel but the the negative one in my bank account definitely creates an assortment of upset feelings. thank you for that numbers.

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  3. myke.

    part of me wants to just give you a hug (even in light of the disclaimer)

    and part of me, the literary part, wants to pat you on the back for a interesting, beautifully written, brilliantly constructed piece. I have been reading "Fountainhead" lately, so my standards are pretty high right now too. kudos.

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  4. Afton - Your comment reminds me of something The Great Neil Diamond once said: "Money talks, but it don't sing and dance, and it don't walk." But while money is far from everything, it is unfortunately necessary. Hopefully now that you're a college grad, you can start making it instead of not having it.

    Chels - Part of me wants the hug (even in light of the disclaimer). And thank you for the pat on the back! It means a lot coming from someone who knows what they're talking about.

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  5. can i just point out that each of your last few posts would also double as amazing band names?

    ok but yeah, i agree with chelsea. that was deep, mr accountant. but i agree with afton.. numbers have caused rage within me, especially in my high school years of crappy math classes. i guess it's not the numbers themselves though.. more like the crappy teachers.

    another similarity between numbers and people, though: there are imaginary versions of both.. but imaginary people are much MUCH more fun to deal with.

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  6. imaginary numbers....ughhhhh. I don't think I ever really got that far, but they scare the crap out of me. More than T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland," which is probably the scariest piece of literature ever written. There are probably like 7 people in the world who are educated enough to read it.

    Anyways, I too thought the post very inspired. Cold, hard, reliable numbers haven't done too much harm to you at all.

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  7. myke... you are coming to visit in two weeks... are you as excited as we are??

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