Profession Ponderings and Pretty Girl Practice in New Beginnings

Sometimes I feel like I’m living someone else’s life. I went to a seminar hosted by a regional CPA firm. It was an entire day of presentations covering…sigh…all the many exciting changes in the industry of accounting this year. There really needs to be a sarcasm font. Now, you may be inclined to ask why I chose a career in something so dreadfully boring. Well, I wanted to be sure I could support myself. Not everyone can be an astronaut, rock star, or professional athlete. To put it another way, years ago I had a friend who planned on becoming an actuary, which is a professional who analyzes risk and uncertainty of financial systems. Yes, it’s probably the most boring profession ever, but there’s a series of tests one can take, and upon passing the final test that person can earn $250,000 a year. My friend said that jobs like that pay so much money to entice people to pursue them. Society just wouldn’t function if no one was willing to do the boring stuff. Someone has to do the less glamorous work.

I didn’t like my chances of becoming anything grand, so I banked on the side of practicality. I figured such was the reason anyone studied accounting. Apparently, I’m mistaken. People at that seminar were taking notes and generally being interested in the presentation. At least, they were very convincing. I spent the entire time daydreaming and counting down to the next break, so I could raid the snack table. If you were wondering why I went in the first place, I needed the credit hours to maintain my license.

Anyway, to further illustrate my point, my current supervisor was hired a year after I joined my company. We’re the same age, have similar educational backgrounds, but he seems light years beyond me in terms of competence. He learned the reporting system in probably a 12th of the time it took me to figure it out. He hears something once, and he fully understands it. My boss’s boss told me that eventually I’ll be in my manager’s position, but I’m just not ready for it. I agree. I can’t even imagine doing what he does. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not upset when I make a snafu because I hope it’ll make them rethink whether I have the capacity to do that job.

I honestly feel like the real CPA named Rob was abducted by aliens, and I was put here in his place, and I’m just trying to pass for the real Rob by figuring out his life on the fly. The saying goes, “fake it ‘till you make it.” Am I the only one who’s faking it? Is everyone else so good at faking it that they pass for the real thing? Maybe after faking it for so long people are able to convince themselves that they know what they’re doing. If that’s the case, I hope I get there sooner rather than later.

Also, I’m going to meet a recruiter, Tanya, this Monday. She contacted me through Linked In. At least once every couple of weeks, a recruiter will contact me to see if I’d be interested in interviewing for a position they’re looking to fill. I always express appreciation, but politely decline. I don’t want to have to start over learning a new job, and I don’t want to have to move deeper into Atlanta.

I told Tanya didn’t want to change positions, but she was still interested in meeting me in person. I agreed because she’s pretty, really pretty. Plus, she graduated from UGA, so we have something in common. I don’t have any delusions about what will come of this meeting. I even looked her up on Facebook, and she apparently has a boyfriend judging by her profile picture. Still, I need practice, practice of being in the presence of an attractive woman while maintaining some semblance of social skills. Either that’s the case, or I’m so desperate for a date, I’ll settle for the faintest facsimile of one. Besides, since she has a boyfriend, I won’t feel pressured. If she were single, I’d focus on trying to be witty and charming, and doing so would prevent me from saying anything remotely witty or charming. Now, I cannot worry about making some gaffe that will forever destroy any prospect of romance or making out since that won’t happen anyway. Either that or I’ll do or say something so stupid that’ll have no choice but embrace a lifetime of celibacy. No pressure.