A recent study shows people who work in certain professions are boring, which I think is unfair and discriminatory because every job is important, even if it is mind-numbing.
Granted that certain professions are definitely hard, such as cleaning stables after the horses are fed horse gram or if you are a politician’s PR writer, or a spin doctor.
Still, the study done by a British university, not only zeroed in on important jobs in our society such as bankers, or number-crunchers who do your taxes every year, but also picked on how their hobbies and lifestyle affected their well, lives and whether they will be a yawn-fest of a companion.
I, for one never ever thought that bankers or chartered accountants are boring, because to be frank, banks and mathematics always intimidated me, somewhat like what Stephen Leacock wrote about in his “My Financial Career”, in his book the “Nonsense Novels”.
Filling in a mysterious form
I also hated handing over most of my monthly salary to a person behind a cage in a bank, and having to fill in a mysterious form that had a column which asked me things like, how many 100 riyal bills, 50 riyal bills and 10 riyal bills, and to total all that up.
This was much before the salary went from the accountant’s office in our workplace directly to my bank on the appropriately named “Bank Street”, and which immediately deducted money for things I did not understand, and zipped it away to tiny bank branch in a quiet suburb of small town of Secunderabad in India.
I would have much preferred handing over all my money to someone in a back alley who made sure the money, with a small fee deducted, reached my folks, right at their doorstep, rather than filling out mysterious forms and trying to calculate the foreign exchange rate.
But I was told that it is illegal, and over the years sending money in that manner became dangerous.
I also love my chartered accountant because without him I would be lost and would be staring at a form called T20, on tax day. I believe I am not the only one, but millions of people suffer similarly and simultaneously.
Since my wife and I Canadians and are also residents of India, having lived here in Bengaluru for nearly five years, we also have an Indian CA.
Receipts of everything
Don’t worry, leave it to me. I will download forms 10BA, and TR-2 and TR-2A, for you. I want all the receipts of everything you bought since you arrived here,” he said.
“I wish to purchase a flat,” said my wife, and the CA turned purple in colour. “OK, we will have to look at long-term capital gains,” he said finally.
“You will have to invest in the Indian Railways or the National Highways to get an exemption of the tax under section 54 and section 54F. Everything is online now, which is a blessing, unless if there is a systems crash.”
I digress, but the study said people in certain professions and who have a hobby of watching TV, are boring people.
The researcher say that the “most boring person in the world” works in data analysis, lives in a small town and enjoys sleep as a hobby.
A psychologist and co-author of the study also said, “The truth of the matter is people like bankers and accountants are highly capable and have power in society — perhaps we should try not to upset them and stereotype them as boring.”
Guess which are the most interesting and exciting jobs? Video games tester, holiday reporter, a private island caretaker.
Mahmood Saberi is a storyteller and blogger based in Bengaluru, India. Twitter: @mahmood_saberi
