The Smurfs and the CPA's
Connecting cartoon characters and occupations is an art. . .and a science.
Forty-one years ago, as a freshly-minted graduate of a large, midwestern university, armed with an accounting degree, I set out to secure a certificate to stake my claim as a professional: the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) Certification, awarded to those passing the Uniform CPA Examination.
I recognized that, in order to pass this grueling four-part exam, conducted over the course of two days, I would need help. So, I turned to Newt Becker, and his well-regarded Becker CPA Review Course. I don’t know what form this review course takes today, but back in 1982, forty or 50 of us gathered each Saturday at 8:00 in the morning, in a dingy classroom, housed in a non-descript office building in the northwest Chicago suburb of Des Plaines, just across the street from the very first McDonald’s, which at that time was a functioning McDonald’s - subsequently it was turned into a museum.
The class presentation featured a slide-deck (you know, that carousel thing which people used to share their vacation photos with unsuspecting cocktail-party guests, except that, instead of Newt’s vacation photos, we were treated to arcane illustrations of debits and credits and accelerated depreciation methods), and an audio cassette-recorder featuring Newt’s nasally voice discussing debits and credits and accelerated depreciation methods. An instructor was on hand - primarily to operate the slide-deck and the audio cassette-recorder.
This class commenced in June of that year, and the CPA exam was offered in November, so I was ensconced in that dingy classroom every Saturday for eight hours, absorbing all facets of the “Wonderful World of Accounting” for nearly five months - in addition to earning my CPA certificate, I could also have penned a pretty boring essay entitled, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”
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In order to survive this ordeal, I incorporated an important element into my Saturday ritual: a hearty breakfast, accompanied by watching The Smurfs on television, prior to my traveling to Des Plaines. It was this cartoon programming which enabled me to cleanse my palate for the accounting-packed day which lay ahead of me.
This ritual reinforced the natural connection which exists between The Smurfs and accountants - as you can see in the illustration atop this column, Papa Smurf appears to be discussing the most recent quarterly earnings of Smurfco, Inc. with Smurfette, while one of their fellow Smurf villagers (the one with the magnifying glass) is performing a physical audit of their floral and mushroom holdings - the other Smurf appears a bit dumfounded by the goings-on around him, but, honestly, doesn’t every organization have an idiot brother-in-law on the payroll who really isn’t adding any value?
What other cartoon character/occupation combinations leap to mind, you ask? That is exactly the question we posed to the Rule of Three Cartoon Character Real World Simulation (“CCRWS”) team. The Rule of Three Gamification Strategy Development (“GSD”) group also weighed-in on this question, suggesting that there was a significant subscriber growth opportunity available here, if properly marketed. Therefore, we are pleased to present to you the “First Annual Rule of Three Cartoon Character/Occupation Connectivity Quiz.”
The quiz is quite simple: below is a list of occupations, numbered one through 10. And, there is a second list - this one of cartoon characters, denoted alphabetically from (a) through (j) - your job is to connect each cartoon character with its appropriate occupation. The Smurfs/accountant connection has already been established; good luck with correctly connecting the other ten - an answer key is located at the bottom of this column - no peeking! If you correctly answer seven or more: congratulations! you’ve obviously spent way too much time watching cartoons. If you correctly answer at least five: nice going, you’ve clearly dabbled in cartoon-watching from time to time. If you answered fewer than five correctly, you need to invest a bit more of your leisure-time in cartoon-watching - maybe start with Bugs Bunny, and you can eventually work your way up to the “hard stuff”: i.e. The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Family Guy - in this sense, Bugs Bunny is kind of a “gateway” cartoon.
Occupations
Lawyer
Doctor
NFL Offensive Lineman
Therapist
Orchestra Conductor
Dentist
TV News Anchor
Teacher
Chef
Uber Driver
Cartoon Characters
(a) Bugs Bunny
(b) Bart Simpson
(c) Mickey Mouse
(d) Charlie Brown
(e) Fred Flintstone
(f) Wile E. Coyote
(g) Daffy Duck
(h) Porky Pig
(i) Mr. Magoo
(j) Yogi Bear
Answer Key
Lawyer - (g) Daffy Duck - I can imagine Daffy Duck arguing a case in court, can’t you? He seems to be able to talk nonstop, without really saying anything at all - isn’t that what makes a great lawyer?
Doctor - (f) Wile E. Coyote - if there’s anybody more qualified than this guy to ask, “Where does it hurt?” I don’t who is. (you thought I was going to tap Bugs Bunny here, didn’t you? You know, because of the “What’s up, doc?” thing - sorry to disappoint - I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson here: In order to position yourself for success in future Rule of Three quizzes, it’s critical that you religiously digest as much Rule of Three content as is humanly possible - feel free to browse the archives to bone-up - we’ll wait).
NFL Offensive Lineman - (e) Fred Flintstone - beefy? (check) no-neck? (check) aggressive? (check) I figure Flintstone likely would have been a third-round draft choice, and would have had a steady, if unspectacular, four-year NFL playing career.
Therapist - (d) Charlie Brown - I know Lucy is the one often depicted as a therapist, but I think that’s supposed to be ironic - Charlie Brown, now, he’s the one with empathy - I can visualize him nodding his (large, round) head, prompting, “And, how did that make you feel?”
Orchestra Conductor - (c) Mickey Mouse - with those white gloves he wears, he seems poised to raise a baton - admittedly, his red pants and the large yellow shoes damage the illusion a bit, but, I bet we could outfit him in a miniature tuxedo, and he’d be ready to go.
Dentist - (a) Bugs Bunny - come on! Take a look at that massive tooth - dentistry is clearly the appropriate path for Bugs Bunny.
TV News Anchor - (h) Porky Pig - what is the one thing that is a must for any TV news anchor? That’s right, a memorable sign-off line! What could be better than, “Th-th-th-th-that’s all folks!”
Teacher - (b) Bart Simpson - the opening sequence of every single episode of The Simpsons includes a scene of Bart scribbling on the blackboard - he clearly knows his way around the classroom.
Chef - (j) Yogi Bear - he could easily win the title of superstar on an episode of Chopped, given his vast experience with creating sumptuous feasts from the many picnic baskets he pilfered.
Uber Driver - (i) Mr. Magoo - while he’s taking you to your destination, can’t you just hear him yelling, “Road hog!” at every other driver on the road?
So, how’d you do? Yeah, I know what you mean - I only got four of them right. . .and I created them!
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