In 2006, NBC had a show called Identity where a contestant is shown 12 people and then presented with a list of 12 “identities” (professions, usually) and has to match them up. The gimmick is that people don’t look the way you’d expect them to – the cheery granny is the rapper, etc.
I caught a couple episodes, and in one, there was a very beautiful young woman. On the list of identities: Accountant. I immediately knew that she was the accountant because – zing! – your accountant is not supposed to be a beautiful young woman!
I was right.
Anyway, as y’all know, I’m an accountant. It amuses me to see what people think accountants are like. Below is my list of the most-common questions I get and my response.
1. That I’m super-organized.
Guilty. Cleaning up and putting things back in order brings me great calm. I got a label-maker for Christmas and it’s a joyous occasion whenever I get to use it. While I like to think I’m not completely nuts, my sock drawer is divided into three sub-sets (white athletic socks! black business socks! fun socks!). That’s probably beyond the average person’s level of concern for footwear.
2. That I’m a math whiz.
I always counter that accounting is more reading-comprehension (reading the code, applying it to real life) than math, but I suppose math skills are required.
3. That I read the Wall Street Journal to relax.
Not so much. While I stay on top of current trends and predictions (what is the reaction to the revised Schedule D? ooh!), my free time is devoted to fiction books. Also, Dance Moms.
4. That I have good stock tips.
Never. While accounting and investing both involve money, they are vastly different. When I need to invest, I have a guy I turn to.
5. That I should handle the bill when a large group goes out to dinner.
OK, sure. Pass me your money.
What are some things people assume about you because of your profession? Are you a doctor who gets asked random health questions? A teacher who gets asked to wrangle a crowd of kids?
Accountants take note, this site is how you do it.
I would not really call myself organized, but I separate my white athletic socks and my more fun/work socks because I am usually grabbing them blindly in the morning…I mean that’s just logic!
“Copy editor” and “copywriter” might conjure up more glamor then I actually have in my life. I’m not an ad copywriter, and newspaper work was a grind even at its best.
But as a general professional Word Nerd, people assume I am a stickler for grammar, spelling and punctuation (true, but not in all circumstances, and I try not to be an ass); that I read a lot (guilty, I average 2 books a week); and that I would just *love* to read and edit their press release/blog post/article/novel for fun! (If it’s short and you’re a friend, OK; if not, you’re gonna pay me.)
Haha, I love the last one – that you’d like to edit everyone’s everything. I mean, that’s your job, right?
Well since right now I am a housewife I think people assume I am not educated but I do have a college degree and they also assume I can bake which is far from the truth!
Before staying at home I worked in property management and people always thought I could get them an apartment but even if you know me I cannot make your bad credit and rent history go away and want to rent to you!
While others don’t assume certain tasks of me, as a linguist, I am often (frustratingly) confronted with the following questions (in order of increasing annoyance):
-What can you do with that degree?
-So are you obsessed with grammar? (Or worse, “Ah so you’re a grammar Nazi, right?”)
-What’s the prettiest language in the world? What’s the hardest language to learn? Aren’t German and Russian ugly? What do you think of hard versus soft sounds? (The last one makes no sense to me…what is a ‘soft’ sound?)
-Why don’t you like [Scrabble, Crossword puzzles, Boggle, etc.]?
And the most offensive…
“How many languages do you speak?”
As we say in my lab, asking a linguist how many languages he/she speaks is like asking a doctor how many diseases he/she has…
But the difference there is, languages are useful, diseases…. not so much.
I mean, I chuckled at the metaphor, but I actually don’t understand what’s offensive about asking how many languages you speak. I ask that question of non-linguists all the time!
Offensive in the sense that it assumes I spend my days locked in a tower learning languages (I love language, but who wants to do that?!). I’m not losing sleep over it
Ah, I see. I wouldn’t have assumed that at all (that you spend your days learning them) … just that you might know more than one
Michael, I get that when I tell people I minored in Linguistics. I’d understand the question being relevant if I said I was a POLYGLOT, but as a linguist, no… it’s the study of language! Grrrr. (And for the record, on my CouchSurfing profile it’s listed that I speak American English, British English, Kiwi English and Australian English, although I am intermediate with the last three.)