A friend, he was in Sales at the time, explained to me his reasoning for getting out; to pursue an MBA and leave Sales.  He said that in Sales, “you’re just a waitress” for the business.  He was tired of schlepping the watered down drinks and cheap grub that was, in his mind, the reality of the work.  I assume.

At the time, I replied,

“Well if that’s the case, if Sales are the waitresses of the business, than Accountants are the dishwashers.”

I was Controller at the time.

You might think the worst aspect of washing dishes, I’m talking commercially here, is the fact you are cleaning up other people’s messes.  I don’t think it is.  I think the worst part is mind-numbing repetition.

Welcome to hell. Population: you

Welcome to hell. Population: You

As Guy Forsyth (singer/actor) famously says in the movie, Waking Life:

“Did you ever have a job that you hated and worked real hard at? A long, hard day of work. Finally you get to go home, get in bed, close your eyes and immediately you wake up and realize… that the whole day at work had been a dream. It’s bad enough that you sell your waking life for minimum wage, but now they get your dreams for free.”

That kind of repetitious work.

If, by the end of preparing your report, you find yourself never wanting to set eyes upon the thing again, you’re a dishwasher my friend.

One job I had, I was actually “trained“ to print off a paper copy of a report from our accounting system in order to then physically key punch the numbers into, not one, but 2 excel spreadsheets.  Every. Single. Month.  This wasn’t twenty years ago, this was 3 years ago.

That was a dishwasher moment for me.  Does my report have insight and analysis?  Does it tell the story of the business?  WHO CARES!!!!  I want this report out of my sight!

Now, I know I’m not supposed to tell you to buy our product.  I know that.  PT Barnum must be spinning in his grave with the rise of the “don’t be salesy” philosophy – particularly prevalent in social media circles.  It was the style at the times… is what we’ll say looking back years from now.  PT Barnum was, of course, one of the greatest self-promoters of all times.  He famously said, “Without promotion something terrible happens… Nothing!”.  He also said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”.

So, this is me not selling saying, we can show you how to get rid of your dishwasher jobs.  A few walkthroughs over the phone with our guys to get you set up and your dishwashing days are over.  At least, with respect to certain repetitious report creation tasks.  When you can’t get the report you need without putting in some serious dishwashing time and think, “there must be a way” then you’re likely in a position where a call with us could help you.

As PT Barnum also famously said,

“Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done.”

Now, this is a Friday post, so in the tradition of Fun Friday check out these clips once the office has cleared out.  The first is easily the best dishwasher quit scene ever made from a little known animated classic called American Pop.  The second is a clip from the aforementioned Waking Life; another classic (non-dishwashing related).

Enjoy!

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