The number crunchers are satisfied with the game
I guess that if you know what you like to do, and you study and then find gainful employement in your field, then things will probably work out. I mean, I’ve (sort of ) done that, and half a lifetime later I still find satisfaction. Still some mysteries out there, though.
Happened to be talking to a number cruncher today. Professional, able to see the forest for the trees; an accountant. I asked the obvious question: “Did you know that you wanted to do this when you were starting out in university?” An affirmation. The mysterious part, for me, is that someone would want to scan columns of figures for a career. I’m sorry, but any time I’m forced to balance accounts, my vision blurs and I feel this urge to sleep.
Maybe that’s why the accountant side of our government leaves me with a queasy stomach. This evening, the first report on public service wage negotiations came down. Even though wages have been (essentially) frozen for years, the opening salvo from the treasury is that times are tough, and there won’t be much coal in the sock for gift season.
We’ve been preparing for that line of reason; the books show that the economy continues to stagnate. But locally, the elected class has been piling on the blankets of dismal science. Even though the public service has been living with negative compensation for several years, the deficit continues to deepen. I asked the question to a senior administrator: “Where’s the pit that the government is trying to infill?”
Turns out, the money supply has been constant (sort of), but the accounting procedures have changed. Do you see where we’re going? We’ve allowed people that enjoy numbers in columns to set the path. Everybody remains unhappy, and the deficit deepens, and only the number crunchers have something to distract them from the pain.
