I have a friend, he’s a good guy, normal, fun, trustworthy. But I felt bad for him, for not what he is, but what he does. He’s an accountant. I could never fathom myself in accounting, for I only see accounting as a job where a person trades his time for money. No doubt, I am prejudiced. For accountants and collection agents and plumbers and nannies all provide a valuable service to society, and yet I could never embrace any profession in those lines.

I think I am too used to it, where I can wake up every single day and say to myself, what am I going to create today that is going to help somebody do their job, that is going to awe somebody, that is going to make somebody smile. If I was getting paid amply even to make simple widgets, I would have detested such a profession; for that I thank the gods that have smiled onto me and bestowed me the good fortune of not having to do anything repetitive.

I have seldom had a hard time explaining to my reports how redoing something from scratch somehow helps in the bigger picture. I can’t even comprehend how my accountant friend does the same double accounting year after year without ever complaining. Maybe its just that every person is different, and just like every person seeks a different glee, he obtains fulfillment through different means too. And if it is fulfillment that we are all seeking, I have to wonder, is there a fits-all standard that we can measure against, or is it just each one of us telling ourselves to be content with what we have, for the downside could be a lot more unwelcome.

In either case, I can’t help but smile at my good fortune today. For there is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing that compares, when you can do a job where people will come to you and say, “thanks” or “dude, that rocks”, ever so often, and you can go home and wallow in that warm fuzzy feeling and never have to look back and wonder, “what if I was goddamn accountant?”.