GLIMPSE OF A CPA'S MIND

One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the province with the purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son. “How was the trip?” “IT was great Dad!” “Did you see how poor people can be?” asked his father. “Oh yes”, said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered. “I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who se...

I suppose everyone has one particular summer vacation that stands out more than any other. For me, it was one summertime when I celebrated my seventh birthday. Lego blocks were the “in” that time. Mama and papa knew how much I wanted to have even the starter set. So for my seventh birthday, they promised to give me one. However, in January of that year, my father was laid off and my mother, who was a bank employee, became the bread winner of a family of five children. Papa then stayed home doing the house chores because we had to give up our house help. While waiting for a job opening from a couple of overseas companies, he would stay in the garage, cutting and nailing together pieces of wood. For months, I would hear him pounding on wood every night. When my birthday came, there was no party, as was previously planned. Mama and papa brought me to church for mass that morning and we went home for breakfast. After breakfast, Papa then gave me a big box with a blue ribbon...