Kittens & Hula Hoops

When I was in high school I loved my calculus teacher. He also taught several other classes including basic math. One day we asked him which class he liked teaching the most. He told us he liked our class the best. At first we were very pleased at his feeding our egos, but as we thought about it, we asked, “Really? Don’t you like teaching basic math the best because it’s the easiest?” (looking back, our naivety still amazes me). He looked thoughtfully for a moment and then gave the following analogy:

I feel like my basic math class is full of a bunch of kittens. And my job is to keep the kittens inside hula hoops. They’re very cute kittens, but these silly little kittens keep jumping out of the hula hoops and I smile and pick them up by the little scruff of their necks and say, “No no little kitten, stay inside the hula hoops” and I put them back in. But they always jump back out again.

I left class that day very confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. But now I think I’m beginning to understand.

I will try and illustrate with a possibly theoretical conversation that I may or may not have had several or more times with someone or a group of people at work…or somewhere else.

Joe Slow: Rebecca, there’s something wrong with my XYZ account. I’m going to fix it with a journal entry that will increase your cash account.

Rebecca: Have we received money in our bank account?

Joe Slow: No

Rebecca: Then it’s probably not a good idea to say on our accounting books that we have received money in our bank account, which is what your entry will do. Do you agree?

Joe Slow: Hm, yeah, that’s probably not a good idea.

:::Joe slow walks away pondering what I have said.::::

I feel all warm and fuzzy for having taught an apparently difficult accounting concept to someone who has been working in accounting for, I don’t know, the past three years…at least until Joe Slow comes back next month:

Joe Slow: Rebecca, there’s something wrong with my XYZ account (not a cash account). I’m going to fix it with a journal entry that will increase your cash account.

Rebecca: ::::Stunned silence as visions of kitten jumping out of hula hoops run through my head::::