Public Accountants' Public Fun

Everyone knows there are millions of jokes about lawyers floating around.  I suspect there are about as many about undertakers and accountants, but people don’t tell accountant jokes in front of me.  They know I’ve worked in an accounting firm over 20 years and wouldn’t want to offend me.  I was amused that we had a real joke situation in our office.  Although we had an almost full house, four of the accountants were doing a seminar via a web cast.  It was a live program, so they were already in session when I got to work, and they took breaks only when the presenter did.  Valerie projected the screen from her computer onto a large wall so they could watch it together.  Things were fairly quiet most of the morning.  We had lunch delivered, each paying for our own meal.  It’s fun for me to be with the group.  They go out on audits together and work in close proximity to each other in the back.  I’m not usually in on the teasing, nor do I know the nuances behind private jokes.  However, I enjoy their lively conversations when they are on a break, so this was fun for me.

After lunch I kept hearing raucous laughter erupting from Valerie’s room.  I had to give Margaret some papers, so I used it as an excuse to see what was going on.

“Brent is there on the wall,” Valerie said, nodding toward the projected session.  I glanced at the dark headed speaker and saw he looked nothing like Brent, our accountant who lives in Massachusetts.  Brent had been in our office two days that week, and I knew he was doing continuing education in the city.

Valerie saw my skeptical look and said, “He really is there.  Look!  Can you tell which one is Brent?”

I looked again, seeing the backs of four men’s heads.

“Oh, Brent is the one in the lower left corner,” I said.

“How did you recognize him?” Valerie asked.  They all looked similar.

“I identify most people by the backs of their heads, because that’s the way I see them at church,” I replied.  She nodded, giving credence to my claim.  I hadn’t been out of the room more than a minute when everyone exploded with laughter again.  Shortly after that, Margaret passed my desk on her way to the kitchen.

“What is so funny?” I wanted to know.

Margaret explained that they knew Brent was at the live presentation in Manhattan, and they thought they recognized him.  I have no idea how many people might have looked at this thing, just as our people did.  It could have been hundreds.  Valerie texted Brent to see where he was in relation to the speaker.  When she knew she had him in sight, she told him to raise his right hand.  Shortly after that, they saw him bend his head, looking at his phone.  He raised his right hand behind his head, pretending to smooth his hair.  Every once in a while Valerie sent him another outrageous demand, like rub the top of your head, give yourself a pat on the back, pull on your ear, etc.  Margaret said Brent played to the camera, waving with his pinkie at them behind his head.  I have no idea if the subject interested our accountants, but they certainly paid close attention to the screen all afternoon.