THE ACCOUNTING ENGINEER
The Accounting Engineer: Years ago I met a man, charming and playful, adventurous and bold, good Lord, I was smitten! Few minutes into knowing him he proposed marriage and for whatever reason, I said yes. This is one of those stories that you need a hot cup of chocolate and a snuggle blanket on a rainy day to read. It’s not today’s story though so the sun sits just fine.
This is a story about the dilemma of a man caught in the wrong space. As I galavanted through my first months in marriage I was perplexed. Something about this man I had married was discombobulating. The boyish charm was not there, could it have been an act? He went to work and came back frustrated day in and day out. He no longer had the play in him. Toxic workplaces huh! I thought to myself as I watched him daily bored and tired.
One fine morning my water heater had a short circuit. I told my husband to call the electrician and have it made and he protested and took it up. He dismantled the socket and sat down with his tools. I watched as he repaired it and there was something in his eyes. I didn’t quite understand but I was so happy that he fixed it. A few more times as electricals broke in the house (Nairobi real estate cries) he kept on fixing. I enjoyed watching him and even felt like breaking a few more things for him to fix. Oh! That was it! He was lit when he interacted with machines. From sounds to dismembering the cars, he was an engineer. Alas! That was his element. Why was he working as an accountant?
While I was super excited to have a way to bring life to him and to have my personal electrical engineer, I was sad that the world was missing it. In my quest to find out I was saddened by the truth of our world. “ I didn’t get the engineering grade so I pursued accounting.” This truth cuts deep as is the truth of many people. How is it that our destiny gets determined by our grades? How much must one work to attain that which was already deposited in him before he was born? What must we do to change this? Is it even possible to change it?