Who Says Accountants Aren't Funny?

Grad school 2012 is underway! My first class in Taxation (not Taxidermy, that's down the hall) was last night and I'm really counting on the sage advice of my friend Neve Campbell, who assured me that she found Tax to be really interesting. I'm counting on it getting a little better than last night. It absolutely HAS to be more interesting than Chapter 1: The History of Tax.

Class No. 2 starts on Monday, which I'm renaming "So You Think You Have What it Takes to be an Accountant." This is not the first semester that I've taken two classes, but it's the first that I've taken two accounting classes. I say this every semester, but I feel like this is a defining moment for me: Do I have the chops for this??? Do I have the TIME for this??? Do I have the courage for this???

One thing's for sure: I'll have to have the back and arm muscles for this. The two books combined weigh 19lbs. When I bought the Tax book I was floored, I'd never had a textbook so thick. That was until yesterday, when I bought the SYTYHWITTBAA textbook, which was 1/4in thicker.

Enough about goals and life and muscles, blah blah blah. Here's the funny story. Last night the professor took attendance and when he reached the end of his list he asked if there was anyone whose name he didn't call. After adding a few people to his roster, he looked pointedly at 3 girls sitting in the front row. He asked them if he had called their name...and they did not reply. No head shake/nod, and definitely no reply.

He asked again, "Did I call your names?" One girl finally said--simply--"No." The teacher went back around and grabbed his pen, ready to write their names down, and the 2nd girl said "We're not in this class. We're auditing." The professor looked confused, because even students auditing classes should be on the official roster. He tried to clarify "You're auditing this class for the semester?" The 1st girl said "No, we're just here to observe this class. Today. Today only."

Blank stare from the professor.

The 3rd girl said "We just wanted to see what this class was like, to see what it's all about. Can we stay?" The teacher was really put on the spot, but was very polite and said they could stay for this class only. We then had to go around the room and introduce ourselves, talk about which program we're in and which classes we'd already taken. When it got to these girls, they admitted that they weren't even students at this university! They were visiting from out of town and just wanted to see what a Tax class was like.

Kids. Interested in the strangest things.