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Not-so-sweet 16: That's Why I'm not an Accountant! PDF Print E-mail
Sunday, 31 January 2010

By now, my unsuccessful foray into the accounting world is well-documented and well-known. What was initially a source of embarrassment for me is now great speaking-fodder, especially as part of my testimony. I’m not afraid to poke fun at myself and I can take good-natured ribbing from my family and friends about my plight.

Since moving away from the accounting profession over 10 years ago, I have rarely looked back, and I have little regret. I have faith that our great and loving God indeed has His plan for me, and my current tenure in youth ministry is part of this plan. And thankfully, I’ve been able to use many of the skills I learned, especially with respect to budgeting and bookkeeping. I love statistics (especially with respect to sports), and my arithmetic and computations skills are still sharp. In fact, one of my most marketable skills is my proficiency in taking a group bill at a restaurant and figuring out how much each person owes, including tip and tax. Hey wait a sec…maybe that’s the only reason why I get invited out once in a while.

 

However, once in a while, the accounting gods will put me in my place. Just today, Gerard and I were teaching a course on Team Building at our Youth Ministry Seminars. As part of an ice-breaker, Gerard asked the participants to break off into pairs and he encouraged partnering up with someone they didn’t know already. We had 16 people registered for the course, and by fluke it turned out that 8 of the participants were from the same ministry community (BLD, or Bukas Loob Sa Diyos).

Being the smart guy that I am, I surmised that it would make sense of each of the BLD members paired off with someone who wasn’t from BLD. So after doing a quick and silent head-count to confirm the 16, I proclaimed my suggestion: “Let’s have the BLD members pair up with non-BLD members!”

It was met with a mix of “Ah, that makes sense!” and “We have names you know!” Just kidding…no one said that second phrase…though we quickly and collectively agreed that we would refrain from categorizing people via their ministry or parish for the rest of the session.

Gerard affirmed my suggestion, and his remark of “Clay’s good with numbers because he used to be an accountant,” made just as we leaving the room for a quick break, was met with polite laughter. I was laughing inside, because I focused on the “used to be an accountant” part as opposed to the “Clay’s good with numbers” part.

As everyone started pairing up, I sat back proud of myself and my suggestion. Until, to my dismay and horror, I saw 1 person left without a partner. How could this be? Suddenly, a got a funny feeling in my stomach, and I realized that my accounting skills may had failed me once again. Another quick scan of the room confirmed my worst suspicion: there were actually only 15 people in the room (not counting myself).

As I frantically looked at the attendance sheet, still in denial, Gerard returned the room and asked why I looked so flustered.

“Uh…I miscounted. There are only 15 participants in here.”

“Nice counting there buddy” was G’s pastoral reply.

“I guess that’s par for the course with me” I mumbled under my breath, just as participant number 16 came in the classroom…effectively saving me from further humiliation. Thankfully, the rest of the session went off without a hitch…and without any further counting errors.

I guess I’ll stick to making spreadsheets and sorting out restaurant bills. Anyone wanna go out and eat?
 
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