when will i EVER need this? (or "other dumb stuff we say in high school")

true story circa 1988:
my accounting teacher was also my asst. basketball coach. i was team captain, and the only senior on the team. we sucked. we sucked from my freshman year mid-way through my senior year. in fact, we sucked so bad that we held (& could possibly still hold...) the "Longest Losing Streak" in the state of nebraska. seriously. anyways...so, my head basketball coach *made* me take accounting my senior year, despitemy many arguments about it. he felt it was in my best interest to take a"numbers class". i did not. but i took accounting. and at one point i told mr. whittler that there were, like, 101 things i'd rather do than accounting. he challenged me to make that list, with a few perameters, and IF i could successfully do it and he approved it, then i would not have to take the accounting test the next day, and my grade would match the highest grade achieved by one of my classmates. heck yeah i made the list! i do not remember much on it, but i am sure there had to be something like "walk to school" (we lived 1.5 miles from town), walk beans, change a flat tire, whatever. and did it i did! i was quite proud of my 101 things, and i think mr. whittler was surprised i really did it. now, in retrospect had i spent that time actually studying for the accounting test...oh, who knows.

fast-forward to 2nd true story circa 2009:
i am officially back in the corporate world. prior to going on permanent maternity leave after linnea was born i worked at (drum roll now please) an accounting firm. over the past few months some of the people at that firm have left and formed their own firm. and i am now employed there. part-time. couple of evenings and saturdays. just through tax season. what you ask am i doing? ummm...yeah...i am preparing tax returns. so perhaps my high school decisions about accounting are coming back to haunt me, huh? well...probably some college ones, too, since i did not have to take any math per se because i tested out for my 3 gen ed credits. oh, and don't forget about the 5 credits (that i earned an "A" for...) that i took i few years back (paid for by a previous employer...) of accounting. yeah?

circa NOW:
really, when am i EVER going to use accounting, mr. whittler??