During my early days as an implementer of  Peachtree Accounting Software (for DOS), I had the pleasure of working with small businesses all over the Atlanta area.  One of these wonderful clients is the source of this memorable saying - “ Well, I’ll be dipped in daaaawg doo-doo!”  That statement is the best reward I have ever received for solving a pesky printer problem. It also makes a wonderful wall hanging in my California home.  

But on to the point. I also had a cold storage client who had a small business office on premise.  The office was accessible only by walking through the middle of the storage area.  It always had the scent of something that hadn’t been kept cold enough.  As a result, I am absolutely positive that I know what rotted chitlins smell like.  In the midst of this lovely aroma sat the most wonderful classically trained bookkeeper. She had been handed the box of software and was told to figure it out. I am pretty sure she was around during the invention of the pencil so she wasn’t planning on putting that device out to pasture any time soon.  She was wonderful at executing tasks as I described them and was meticulous about accounting for every single transaction properly.  She printed out reams of paper and recorded every keystroke for posterity. (I’m pretty sure she is solely responsible for Global Warming.) 

On one occasion I was called to come onsite as the system “wasn’t working properly".  She told me it was messing up and skipping transactions.  I asked for more information and she opened up a drawer containing beautifully hand written records that mirrored every single transaction in the automated system.  Turns out she didn’t trust the computer so she was also recording every transaction on individual green ledger cards.  

Most of us can hardly find employees to do a job right once.  Here was an employee who took such pride in her job that she did it beautifully twice. Well, I’ll be dipped…

 

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