Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 144
Emoticons, and getting a little help from the judges
S
o, I was poking around online,
looking at the Rhode Island
Nonresident Individual Income Tax Return form, see, which I
like to do whenever things get slow,
see, and I noticed on the last lines of
page one they had a “sad face” icon
where you would put the amount
you might owe, and a “happy face”
icon where you would put the
amount you might get as a refund.
It was a simple little thing, really, but it made me laugh out loud. I
mean, tax-folk are normally so dry
Jim
WALKER
DON’T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY
and serious. But, apparently, those
“Ocean State” form-crafters have
a twisted senses of humor, which I
thoroughly appreciate.
Now, I figured a warped mind or
minds, similar to my own, would
not stop with just a couple cute
icons. Those must have been intended as teasers to get me to look closer at the form, where, as a true connoisseur of quirk, I would appreciate
the subtle genius implanted there.
So I crossed my eyes like a Yaqui
sorcerer and began looking at the
sentences, sequences, first words in
lines and various other mathematical and holistic patterns to see what
I could see. And, surprise! …
… I found nothin’…
… well, except that the 13th letters in all the numbered lines
queued up to spell “diesftorseolctalandwxiotteigpp” — and we all
know what that means.
But, beyond this nod to the end of
the world in 2012, I really couldn’t
get anything subliminal off the
page. Thusly, I had to surmise that
the R.I. tax-form creators were
merely attempting to put a lighter spin on the drudgery of the whole
deal.
OK, it worked. And now they’ve
also had a laugh at my expense for
the hours I wasted trying to channel
their “true” thoughts.
So sorry, guys, that I expected
more from you.
As usually happens when the synapses of my brain misfire in unique
patterns, this happy face/sad face
thing got me thinking.
What if all the encounters or
choices in life came with little
graphic smiles or frowns to put
See WALKER, A10
