Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?

For those too young to remember, the above quote was uttered in absolute exasperation in 1962 by the legendary baseball manager Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel during his tenure as the inaugural manager of the then-expansion New York Metropolitans, or the Mets as they are more commonly known.

The fledgling major league team set records for on-field futility as they managed to lose some 120 games that first year.

Casey by the way, also forbid his players to drink at the hotel bar when on the road, because as he explained, that’s where he drank.

I’m sure at one time for another we’ve all been frustrated at the recurring problem that appears to have no solution.

For me, it’s a deck directly over the family room I had installed some seven years ago and much like the incumbent resident of the Oval Office’s track record, nothing has gone right since the ribbon-cutting.

It has sprung more leaks than Edward Snowden and despite four contractors having a go repairing it, I still find myself in charge of the bucket brigade during a prolonged rain – like this past week  in New York where it only rained hard twice in one day – once for 10 hours and then again for 9.

In the morning, the room resembled the cover shot of the May issue of Field & Stream.

Over the weekend contractor hopeful No. 5 will pay us a visit and I’m sure convince us that if we leave it to him, we can transplant the house directly under Niagara Falls afterwards and we wouldn’t have to mop up a single drop of water.

I thought of this thread of frustration after speaking to a friend of mine with a unique tax problem that his accountant apparently could not fix, despite several attempts and promises to do so. In fact, his most trusted advisor’s failed undertakings only placed him in a deeper legal hole. At wit’s end, he begged me for a referral and I gladly complied, giving him the names of several tax experts in his area that might be able to get this thing sorted out.

So that got me to thinking.

Why don’t more CPAs (or roofers for that matter) admit when they can’t do something and steer you to somebody who can? Overpromising and under-delivering can only ruin credibility in the long term. I liken it to eating at a restaurant.  If it’s good, you’ll probably tell two or three people, but if the experience rivals a stay at a Turkish prison, you’ll probably tell a minimum of 10.

Do you actually think I’d recommend those failed contractors to anyone else? Do you think my friend is going to steer any business to his soon-to-be-former CPA?

I don’t think so.

So to paraphrase Casey, if anyone here can’t play this game, then show me someone who can.  If they fix my deck, they can drink at the hotel bar for as long as they like.