A while ago, in a Bourke Accounting blog, I mentioned that I am a big fan of old radio dramas. One of my favorites is called The Black Museum, hosted by Orson Welles. On this program, Welles describes a mundane object, like a coat button, and proceeds to illustrate how everyday items have been integral in providing evidence against murderers.
Welles is supposed to be speaking from the “repository of death” (Oldradioworld.com) that is Scotland Yard’s “Black Museum.” On the show, The Black Museum is a collection of catalogued items “all touched by murder” (Oldradioworld.com) that have provided invaluable proof of guilt to London’s police. Naturally, I started wondering if such a warehouse of the macabre actually exists underneath Scotland Yard. I should have known better than to doubt Orson.
The Black Museum was “established in the mid-1870s” (Wemakemoneynotart.com) as a storage space for the belongings of arrested individuals. When these belongings went unclaimed, generally because the owners had been convicted, the police started to display the objects as “a teaching tool for newly trained officers” (Wemakemoneynotart.com). It was given its ominous moniker in 1877, when a reporter from The Observer was denied entry (En.Wikipedia.org), as the general public was (and is still) not authorized to visit.
The Black Museum (now, sadly, renamed “The Crime Museum”) houses and preserves over 500 various objects (Atlasobscura.com). Included are letters allegedly from Jack the Ripper, reconstructions of IRA bombs and run-of-the-mill weaponry such as guns and knives. Perhaps one of the most grotesque exhibits is a small pile of gallstones, which effectively put the noose around Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh’s, neck in 1949. Haigh dissolved the bodies of a least six people in vats of sulfuric acid. When it was discovered that Haigh was the last person to see victim Olive Durand-Deacon, the police searched his residence. At the bottom of one of the vats, undissolved, police found a partial set of dentures and, yeah, Ms. Durand-Deacon’s gallstones (Theguardian.com).
Remember that example of a button I mentioned earlier? The Black Museum aired an episode in 1951 (“The Brass Button”) that was based on true events. In 1919, David Greenwood was convicted of the rape and murder of Nellie Trew after a very unusual button was found next to the body. When the police published a picture of the button in the newspaper, Greenwood was arrested for the crime (Blackkalendar.nl). A button. Something as simple as a snazzy button was responsible for taking a violent killer out of the game.
Perhaps it’s the shear ordinariness of the objects in The Black Museum that make them so frightening. Behind glass, there is a pair of binoculars from 1945 – seemingly interesting only as an antique. However, when one tries to adjust them, spring loaded spikes shoot out from the eyepieces. These were given as a gift from a man to the woman who left him (wemakemoneynotart.com). They look innocent enough.
Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers know that the big picture is important. However, Bourke Accounting experts also know that the tiniest of mistakes can lead to trouble down the road. Because of this Bourke Accounting pros meticulously verify that every document you receive is 100% accurate. Hey, the devil is in the details.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Sick days are no fun (legitimate ones, anyway): moping around the house, feeling awful and, maybe for extra happy awesome time, spending a few hours in the doctor’s office. And then there’s the added bonuses of lost money and guilt for having co-workers take up the slack. Sick days are no fun.
If you think about it, a lot of America has been having a legitimate sick day for these last two months. Hopefully, you weren’t hanging out at the doc’s or feeling guilty, but there was certainly a lot of money lost.
Whether you agree with the timing or not, it seems that our country is going to be reopening very soon. Within a few weeks, if luck is with us, life is slowly going to return to normal. Well, at least to the extent that backyard barbeques can be planned again. However, we are going to be facing long-lasting and far-reaching financial issues that won’t be as easily solved as deciding between hot dogs or hamburgers.
First, let’s start with the enormous hospital bill corona will leave for us. According to a study reported by CNBC.com, the average cost of a coronavirus hospital stay is $30,000. Some insurance companies have promised that patients won’t have to pay “deductibles, copays…and other charges” (Marketwatch.com) associated with the virus. That’s nice, but some companies are free to decide not to promise anything. And what about the uninsured? When all is said and done, it’s projected that about 2 million uninsured people will end up hospitalized (CNBC.com). The White House announced that “funding under recently passed legislation [will be used] to help cover the cost of treating the uninsured” (CNBC.com). It’s great, it’s tremendous, it’s the best! Oh, um, but, at some point, all of this money has to be replaced somehow, right?
Obviously, raising income taxes right now wouldn’t really work – you can’t squeeze a brick and expect a Tequila Sunrise. Also, raising sales taxes wouldn’t help the economy, either – the hardest hit individuals would just buy less.
Naturally, as an off-white collar worker, my first thought is to tax corporations and the wealthy. They can afford it! Sadly, we’re treading in murky waters and, what might have worked in the past, might not work today. Let’s say that everyone goes back to work and everyone is happy and secure again. Then, companies are told to pay a lot more in taxes for doing business. I’m not going to say Big Business is ruthless, but who would suffer the most on account of these taxes? If companies can lay off a large number of employees to offset their IRS bills, face it, they will. Instead of having a Depression–like economy, we might see ourselves in a Depression-Depression economy.
Forbes.com mentions the possibility of a “one-time levy on existing wealth” for the richest taxpayers. I’m not trying to sound like Ayn Rand here, but I don’t know if that’s totally fair, either. Rich people buy stuff, rich people pay tax on stuff, then they must pay another tax because they have so much stuff? Bloomberg.com suggests that perhaps taxing “individuals and companies differently depending on how well they fared during the lockdown” would be a suitable alternative. I agree. I wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra to help, as I’ve been writing and filing in my own little safe bubble throughout this thing.
No matter how we go about paying for the pandemic, it won’t be totally painless. We must understand that “this too shall pass” and keep everything in calm perspective. What’s the alternative?
While Bourke Accounting has no input regarding tax changes, they will be well-versed in new laws before you even sit down. Bourke Accounting tax preparers and bookkeepers will happily take the time to make sure you understand everything about our quickly transitioning world. And, as always, you know that you will receive the most effective and comprehensive service available.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Bourke Accounting professionals are practical and they are ethical. If you forget to include some extra income, your Bourke Accounting tax preparer will quietly fix the problem; they won’t report you to the IRS for attempted tax fraud. While I consider myself a pretty ethical person, I wonder if maybe I’m just a touch too practical compared to my Bourke co-workers.
For example, earlier in May, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine earned about $2 million in less than a week from his newly released single, “Gooba” (Billboard.com). So, 6ix9ine decided to donate 10% of that to No Kid Hungry, a charity fighting childhood hunger (Billboard.com). That’s right, this weird little facially tattooed guy was willing to give $200,000 to make sure that, even during the pandemic, kids would be able to eat. Let’s say the average cost of a Kraft Lunchables is about $1.48 (not the best food choice, I know). That means that $200,000 would provide about 135,135 kids with at least one meal.
However, Laura Washburn (No Kid Hungry’s director of strategic communications), said “thanks, but no thanks.” While she announced that the charity was grateful for the offer, she said that it is the policy of No Kid Hungry to “decline funding from donors whose activities do not align with our mission and values” (Billboard.com). Tekashi 6ix9ine is not a good, law-abiding citizen. He has been trouble in the law for a vast host of reasons – assault, weapons charges, racketeering and even something to do with a 13-year-old girl when he was 18. He is no one’s role model, he is a criminal.
I wonder though, does a hungry child care if the hands that are providing clean food are dirty?
Another example of denied charity happened in Pennsylvania last July. Hundreds of parents received letters from the Wyoming Valley West School district regarding unpaid school lunch debts that amounted to $22,000 (CNN.com). The letters threatened parents that the district might be forced to report them to Child Protective Services and, most likely, the children would end up in foster care” (CNN.com). Todd Carmichael, co-founder and CEO of locally based La Colombe Coffee, offered to pay the entire debt (CNN.com). However, the school board president, Joseph Mazur, said no, citing that “the parents who owe the money can afford to pay it” (MSN.com). Mazur simply stated that it wasn’t Carmichael’s responsibility. Thankfully, the backlash from this refusal made the papers and the board finally relented and allowed Carmichael to carry on with his good deed.
Some people complain that, if parents can’t afford children, they shouldn’t have children. That’s a fair argument, Captain Hindsight, but, what is your suggestion for the kids who are already here? Children won’t understand that, because their parents aren’t good at budgeting, they don’t get to eat today. Honestly, these kids are going to be our doctors and attorneys – have you ever tried concentrating when you’re really hungry? As Americans, yeah, sorry, it’s our responsibility to protect our most vulnerable citizens.
Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers are practical and ethical. Bourke Accounting won’t engage in fraud with you, but they will definitely protect you to the best of their abilities if you find yourself in a sticky situation. And really, since our Bourke Accounting experts are so talented, they can offer you – legal – advice to help you throughout all of your financial journeys.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Within the next few weeks, it looks like America is going to be opening for business as usual. I know your Bourke Accounting experts are looking forward to sitting down with you again. While it’s been a blast for them to have entire conversations traded through Post-It notes, crackling cellphones and weird Jetsons-type video calls, they like the good ol’ fashioned face-to-face encounters best of all.
However, just because we say it’s going to be business as usual, that’s not really the case; we are going to be feeling the effects of the last few months of quarantine for a long time. Between probable tax hikes, bankruptcies and a general reluctance to stand close to strangers, we are going to have to relearn what it means to be social and working animals again.
Because of this, I was thinking of certain aspects of American life that might take a bit longer to rebuild:
1) Familial relationships. While we love our families, the extended lock-down could prove fatal to marriages. Divorce attorneys are predicting that, once courts are completely open, the surge in break-ups might be astounding (ABCnews.go.com); familiarity breeds contempt and all. Sadly, the causes of Corona divorce are more existential than simply noticing how often your spouse has a finger up her/his nose. Marcy Katz, attorney, suggests that higher divorce rates may be caused by people “coming to terms with their mortality and want[ing] to make positive changes in their lives” (ABCnews.go.com). Basically, it’s a “It’s not you, it’s me and I don’t want to waste the rest of my life with you” scenario.
2) Our bellies. A lot of people eat out of stress and fear. Because of the 24-hour news cycles, scary internet conspiracy theories and too much free time, many people are turning to food for comfort. In addition, without the structure of a normal workday, people may be eating out of boredom or simply because they can. Also, when the only chance to leave the house is to visit the grocery store, people stock up on items that aren’t really needed and make more frequent trips. And, finally, in uncertain times, there is solace to be found in over-flowing pantries and fridges.
3) Our feet. So, you’ve been padding around the house in your socks for the past few months and now your feet, back, knees, everything hurts. Miguel Cunha, MD says that “walking barefoot on hard surfaces for long periods of time alters the distribution of pressure and weight across your feet” (Menshealth.com). While it feels great to kick off those confining work shoes for the weekend, going without support for too long can cause problems throughout the entire body. To help your feet and to avoid tracking alien bacteria and viruses all through your place, Dr. Cunha suggests buying supportive house shoes that never touch the outside (Menshealth.com).
We know it’s going to be a long road back to normalcy; none of us have ever before experienced the events of these last months. With patience, hard work and diligence, we will eventually and really return to business as usual.
Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers can’t wait to see you. While Bourke Accounting has continued to offer the most knowledgeable and accurate service available, they, too are anxious for the good ol’ days. Bourke Accounting experts enjoy holding your hand through the tough times and being a shoulder to cry on through the even tougher times. While they may be bean counters, they are very social bean counters.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
At Bourke Accounting, we have a few transplants from the North: I’m from NYC, Bill is from NYC, Phil is from Jersey. I thought we were the upmost in hardcore. And then, this weekend, I watched the television show Outsiders on the WGN channel. It must be said – New Yawk ain’t got nuthin’ on Kentucky in terms of toughness. If you don’t know, this is a 2016 show about a clan of outlaws living in the mountain wilds of Kentucky (even though it’s filmed in Pennsylvania), distilling moonshine and, basically living on the fringes of the world by a well-established code of their own.
It is violent, it is interesting, it is rather sexy and I am hooked. The pal who hipped me to this program mentioned that it’s based on real events and that I shouldn’t walk around the Daniel Boone Forest. Huh? I’ve been to this national preserve and it is beautiful. Whaddya mean I shouldn’t walk around there?
Booby traps and psycho mountain folk, my friend informed me. Wait, what? Yeah, well, you know I had to look it up.
In November of 2009, Bill Sparkman, a census taker was “found bound and gagged and hanging from a tree… “Fed” scrawled across his chest” (ABCnews.go.com). My God! That’s horrible! You can’t trust these weirdo mountain Kentuckians! They’re wild, they’re terrible and, and, and…annnd, it was all BS. The deceased was in debt, he was depressed, he was ill, he disrobed himself, he wrote on himself and the only DNA found on the accoutrements of his demise was his own. He even told a friend the rudiments of his plan (who didn’t take him seriously) (Kentucky.com). So, Clay County, KY witnessed as a bunch of cops and agents descended upon their land, looking for some Deliverance-type extras.
However, the fact that Mr. Sparkman thought that this was a believable plan, with ready-made suspects standing by, makes one wonder about the reputation of the area. As it turns out, yes, there very well might be some hard customers in the forests of good ol’ KY.
Take, for example, the Cornbread Mafia. This is a group of folks who grew marijuana in some pretty rural places of Kentucky, after they discovered that weed generated a lot more revenue than ‘shine. It turns out, to protect their crops, they did in fact use booby traps: “including fishhooks hung at eye level, trip wires tied to dynamite and live rattlesnakes tied to poles” (Courier-Journal.com). However, Johnny Boone (the “leader” of the group) was sort of a homegrown hero, as he donated money to the desperately poor people in the community. Deputy marshals, trying to find Boone and his cohorts, were met with resistance from the townsfolks. Often the agents of order were told that they wouldn’t be told where anyone was, even if the townsfolk knew, which, of course, they did not. (Courier-Journal.com).
I am in no way trying to defend the lawless. However, it seems to me that we must look into the reasons why some go outside the law in order to feed their families and communities. Lawlessness is a mark of desperation and, while no one should get off scot-free, mitigating circumstances should be introduced and examined.
Most Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers won’t set up booby traps around your house. However, if you have an issue with a government agency, I urge you to contact your Bourke Accounting expert before doing anything rash. Your Bourke Accounting pro can defend you and protect you better than rattlesnakes ever could (and you won’t have angry, bitten agents breaking down your door).
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Bourke Accounting likes women. Not in a creepy, hidden cameras in the bathroom kind of way. At Bourke Accounting, there are more female employees than male, but everyone is treated identically. If one of us messes up – no matter what gender – Boss Bill will call us to the carpet in the exact same fashion.
Bill doesn’t come down harder on us because we are women and he sure isn’t easier on us because we’re the gentler sex. Nope. He holds everyone to his same, exacting standard.
I like this. As a kid, I hated playing games with boys who “went easy” on me because I happened to be a girl. I also hated the boys who told me I couldn’t be on the team because, as a girl, I would only drag their side down. Since playing “Kill the Man” was a lot more fun than making squishy, light-bulb heated brownies with the Easy Bake Oven, I was often disappointed.
Long gone are the times when women couldn’t own property, vote or even serve on juries. While women might not enjoy 100% equality, we’re getting there. What I really think is interesting is that, throughout history, the simplest things lead to the biggest consequences.
Take, for example, Susanna M. Salter.
Susanna Salter was a very vocal member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Kansas. When women were granted the right to vote and run in local elections in 1887, the WCTU decided to endorse male candidates who shared their hatred of alcohol. As a leader of the WCTU, Susanna Salter, “presided at [the] caucus” (Timeline.com) in which candidates were selected, including the position of mayor. Some of the men present were “offended by female presumption to endorse candidates” (Timeline.com) and thought they had come up with the perfect plan to humiliate these uppity, loud women.
Without her being aware of it, this group of men substituted Salter’s name on the ballot as their candidate for mayor. These guys “assumed that no man would vote for a woman mayor” (Timeline.com) and Salter’s loss would put her and her group back in their proper place. These sad little men hadn’t really thought this through, however – women had just won the right to vote and run in local elections, remember?
While doing laundry, Salter was made aware that her name was on the ballot and asked if she would serve if elected. A little confused, she said, “sure.” The members of the WCTU turned out to vote for their girl, while some men found the whole thing funny and voted for her, too (Timeline.com). So, because of a mean-spirited joke, Susanna M. Salter became the first female mayor in America.
While Salter chose not to run for a second term, her point was made. In addition, her contribution inspired other women. For example, in 1888, Mary Lowman ran in Oskaloosa, KS and “served with the nation’s first all-woman city council” (Timeline.com).
Equality for everyone is important. It might be slow going at times, but I think we’re becoming more enlightened every day.
Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers are good with businesses. Bourke Accounting experts are good with tax returns. However, Bourke Accounting specialists aren’t good with discrimination. Your Bourke Accounting rep will provide the same wonderful guidance and service no matter what your gender might be. It’s too exhausting to be any other way.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Oh, come on! Political unrest, protesting in the streets, The Plague, unemployment, Depression-like economics and now, now, we have killer bees? Okay, I’m done, thanks, but no thanks, I QUIT and I’m going back to 2019. You guys call me when you have 2020 sorted out.
I first became aware of Asian giant hornets (AKA Vespa mandarinia, AKA Murder Hornets, AKA What in the Actual [censored] is Going On Here) through a friend’s text. This is the same friend who tried to convince me that 5G is responsible for Covid and all government officials have been replaced by lizard people from outer space. Soooo, I took his story with more than one grain of salt.
I am terribly unhappy to say that not every conspiracy theory is just a theory. In 2019, the Washington State Department of Agriculture “verified two sightings of Asian giant hornets” (Livescience.com). Okay, big deal – so someone saw two hornets…and? And I think Mother Nature is mad at us.
These aren’t just any hornets, oh, no. These hornets are like if someone decided to combine Murder, Inc., The Crips and The Hell’s Angels all together just to see what would happen. First off, they’re big. The Queens can “grow to be 2 inches…while female workers and males [are] about 1 to 1.5 inches” (Livescience.com). Also, the ladies sting. One person equated the sting to getting a hot nail driven through his leg (Livescience.com). And just to keep it interesting, hornets have smooth stingers, so they can sting and sting until they get bored.
With most bees, wasps and hornets, if a human doesn’t provoke them, a human will be all right. That might just be the case with Vespa mandarinia. However, in 2013, after swarms of hornets attacked in China, they had a body count: 42 people dead and 1,600 injured” (Business.insider.com). I’m not really getting a gentle giant vibe from these guys.
Besides the damage that these psychos can do to humans, the Vespa man is even worse to bees. Bees are important to our world; they are pollinators, they make honey, they are integral to our ecosystem. A killer hornet stalks a single bee and follows it to the beehive. The hornet marks the hive with pheromones and calls in the crew. What happens next is pure carnage: “within a few hours, a…honey bee colony of 30,000 to 50,000 is slaughtered by a group of 15 to 30 hornets” (Livescience.com).” Decapitation, dismemberment, Texas Chainsaw Massacre levels of brutality. The hornets even chew up the baby bee larvae into a paste to feed to their own kids (Livescience.com).
Our European honey bees have brought a paper airplane to an atomic bomb fight. However, Japanese honey bees have evolved to the point where they have some defense. When one of the Japanese bees clocks a Murder Hornet, she calls her crew and it gets weird: these bees swarm the hornet and create a ball around it. Then, they vibrate “their flight muscles to generate heat [until] temperatures build to 116 degrees Fahrenheit” (Livescience.com), killing the hornet. The bees are A-OK.
Washington State is encouraging residents to take photos if they believe they’re looking at a Vespa man (Businessinsider.com), but at this point, we don’t know how many we have or how to stop them. How did they get here? One idea is that they came over with cargo. The other theory is that someone deliberately released them. As destructive as people can be, I’m sort of leaning towards the latter.
The groundskeepers at the Bourke Accounting office run a tight ship – we have no hives of any kind. Just like a Bourke Accounting expert, our maintenance people hold your protection as the priority. And even if we are swarmed by aggressive Murder hornets, at least you can rest assured that your financial interests are as well protected by a Bourke Accounting specialist as a Japanese honey bee protecting her hive.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
My Bourke Accounting co-workers can attest to how easy-going Receptionist Phil and I are. We are breaths of fresh air; we are cheerful, helpful and all-around joys to interact with. Yes, Phil and I are amazing.
But now, I can no longer hold my tongue. I cannot avoid speaking about the travesty that has been visited upon our hard-working and loyal heads. On April 22 of this very year Phil and I were not once – not once, mind! – wished a Happy Administrative Professionals Day. There. I know how shocking this is, but it had to be addressed. I don’t want to tarnish your opinion of Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers, but I really thought you ought to know.
No matter what you want to call us – admin, secretary, receptionist – we are the backbone of every corporation. We are on the frontline, both in person and telephonically. Admins are the guardians against chaos; we are the barrier between savagery and civilization. We are the Champions of All Things File Folder Related.
Our people have a rich and vibrant history. For example, the word “secretary” comes from the Medieval Latin “secretarius,” loosely meaning “person entrusted with secrets” (Etymonline.com). Even our title is indicative of our dedication to our craft. Do you think Phil and I would ever share what we’ve learned about clients? Absolutely not! To do so would bring dishonor!
How long have secretaries existed? No one really knows. We are constant and ageless, like the moon. It is only known that we “existed prior to the establishment of the Roman Empire” (Blog. Advancedresources.com). Take that computer code writers. In addition, in the 15th and 16th centuries, secretaries were considered of “an elevated status and held prominent positions” (Blog.advancedresources.com). Remember that the next time you want to refer to the professional at your doctor’s office as “that girl behind the counter.”
And secretaries don’t just simply answer phones and inform you that “Mr. Wilson is here to see you.” At this stage in the game, we are creating PowerPoint presentations (I’m not, but that’s irrelevant), performing human resources duties, making sure that supplies are procured and that bills are paid. If not for secretaries, entire offices complexes would sink into despair and disrepair and then some more despair. If you weren’t greeted by an administrative professional at your next appointment, you would be floating in a sea of confusion with no idea where to go or how to contact the person you were planning on seeing. We are sophistication and progress made human.
I suppose, with everything going on, I can’t really fault my Bourke Accounting colleagues for neglecting to wish Phil and I a Happy Administrative Professionals Day; secretaries are patient and forgiving, after all. But next time you see an admin, make sure that you thank her/him for protecting society from uncertainty.
While your Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers are wonderful, your Bourke Accounting receptionists are just as hardworking and dedicated. Bourke Accounting is a well-oiled machine with the single-minded goal of providing you with the best and most courteous service you could ever expect. And to my fellow unsung admin heroes out there: Happy Belated Administrative Professionals Day!
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Diversity is good. At Bourke Accounting, we welcome pretty much everyone (unless you kick animals for fun. I swear, you will feel Bill’s highly shined Italian leather loafer if you do that). Our America culture has been greatly improved by the practices and beliefs of other countries. Although a lot of introduced food has been Americanized, could you image this country without pizza, shumai, vodka or tacos? No, ladies and gentlemen, no, you cannot.
Since tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, I thought I’d think on it a little.
I am embarrassed to admit that I, like many Americans, believed Cinco de Mayo to be a celebration of Mexican independence, comparable to our Fourth of July. I am equally embarrassed to admit that I really had no idea who Mexico gained independence from and it didn’t occur to me to check it out. Is this some sort of gentle, Americophile ignorance? I will have the decency to cringe as you respond in the affirmative.
So, why is Cinco de Mayo important? At the very essence, this holiday originated like a lot of others: the big dog pulled into town to wreak havoc and destruction and the little dog slapped his nose but good. In 1861, the Mexican government defaulted on loan payments to France. France then decided that all bets were off, figured they would now own Mexico through a bit of force and planned to set up a monarchy (Insider.com).
France had a lot more toys and trained soldiers than Mexico and thought the entire situation would be a nonissue when they invaded. However, on “their way to Mexico City, the French troops were stopped by Mexican forces in the town of Puebla” (Insider.com). The battle lasted less than a day and, by the time the French retreated, they had “lost nearly 500 soldiers [and] fewer than 100 Mexicans had been killed in the clash” (History.com).
While this battle did not end the French aggression towards Mexico, it gave the people hope. It increased the determination of the Mexican people to resist tyranny and was a “great symbolic victory” (History.com). Like America’s war with England, the people banded together to free their country and, eventually (after about five years), did just that.
Oddly enough, outside of the town of Puebla, this is not a big holiday in Mexico; banks and stores are open everywhere except in Puebla (Insider.com). However, this is a holiday celebrating perseverance, dedication and love for home and country. How, then, did America turn it into something a little shady?
A lot of people who head out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in this and other countries, use it as an excuse to get seriously drunk and wear sombreros and fake mustaches. In fact, in 2017, a United States governor posted that he would celebrate the holiday by engaging in stereotypical and racist endeavors, not including a link to that, sorry – I might be ignorant, but not insensitive.
On this Cinco de Mayo, I think we should spare a thought to all of the brave and dedicated people of the world who fight and win against seemingly impossible forces.
When you drop off paperwork to your Bourke Accounting bookkeeper or tax preparer, you will notice a deficit in fake mustaches. Bourke Accounting pros understand that America is made up of a lot of moving parts and all parts are worthy of respect. Your Bourke Accounting expert embraces the differences and the talents we all bring to the table and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
My Fellow Geminis: Now is the time to stand up for our rights and for our dignity. For too long we have been marginalized, insulted and abused. We are the black sheep of the astrological world and it is only because the rest of the Zodiac is jealous of us. We are beautiful, intelligent, adaptable – WE ARE THE ONLY SIGN THAT MATTERS!
I first became aware that some miscreants don’t like Geminis about 20 years ago while on a date. We shared good conversation, compatibility in interests and like mindedness in tipping (always tip too much, never too little). Walking through Washington Square Park, he asked my sign. I told him. He said, “Oooh, nooo,” shook my hand and walked away. I never heard from him again.
Recently, this wound was reopened by Bill, my fearless leader and employer at Bourke Accounting. After mentioning that I am a Gemini, Bill snorted, rolled his eyes and remarked: Well, that explains a lot. Mr. Lentini, unless you mean that explains why I am so awesome, I’m afraid that I don’t follow.
Geminis are naturally inquisitive. We want to know the full story, so don’t bother trying to placate us with subtlety or outright lies when we ask a question. We are not interested in the Safe for Grandma explanation regarding your arrest – we need to know everything. Do we, at times, ask indelicate questions? Yes, yes, we do. However, we are so charming that we will sooth any hurt feelings by the time we part.
In addition, just like we Geminis expect the truth from you lower Zodiac denizens, we will tell you the truth, too. We are capable of putting a positive spin on it (we are really good with phrasing), but you always know where you stand with a Twin. Since we are also a very passionate air sign, if you make us angry enough, we come up with very cutting, imaginative and effective insults. But don’t worry, we’ll forget that we cast dispersions upon your lineage within a half hour.
In an article designed to mistreat our people, Vice.com suggests that Geminis are “liars, cheats and thieves.” Vice.com accuses us of being flighty and two-faced with a love for “pulling a fast one” (Vice.com). Vice delights to inform us that Kanye West and that person who put his signature on our stimulus checks are both Geminis. However, dear Vice, you neglected to mention that Anne Frank, Bob Dylan, the Marquis de Sade, Prince, Marilyn Monroe and Walt Whitman are also of the wonderful world of The Gemini.
Twins, our time has come! We are as gentle as a spring breeze and as powerful as a hurricane. Let us unite and take over the universe in the name of all things Gemini! No more shall we accept the slings and arrows of our less evolved Zodiacal brethren!
Sadly, your humble narrator is the only Gemini in residence at Bourke Accounting, but please don’t hold that against your Bourke Accounting bookkeeper or tax preparer. It is not their fault that they were born under a weaker sign. No matter the astrological shortcomings our Bourke Accounting specialists are victim to, they are still the most knowledgeable and service-oriented financial geniuses in the world. The stars don’t need to align for you to receive the upmost in advice, just drop off your paperwork and allow the magic to happen.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.