Incident at Cubicle Ridge

A disturbing thing happened the other day. I found myself suddenly becoming interested in a discrepancy that arose within an audit. This disturbed me on multiple levels, so I slowly eased away from my desk. I carefully placed my calculator face down (so it's strange, lidless eyes couldn't follow my movements), straightened my pocket protector, and disappeared under my cubicle to contemplate the situation for a while. Several concerned co-workers stopped by to inquire into how I was doing, but I tried to ignore them. In fact, over the next hour a surprising number of people seemed to mysteriously find their way to my cubicle. (As my cubicle is on the rough side of the copier, most people try to avoid our seedy aisles and crooked bulletin boards.) I finally returned to my chair in order to get all the strangers to go away, but I took care to remain out of my monitor's line of vision. To play it extra safe, I removed the batteries from my calculator before visiting a neighboring cubicle.

After reading my co-worker's e-mails and eating his secret stash of white chocolate, I began to feel better. I thanked him politely, allowing him the use of his chair again, and stood up to leave. Then, I noticed his family photo. I decided that the framed photo of attractive family members might do my spirits good, so I took it. He fussed a lot about that, but finally calmed down--once the tranqulizers placed in his latte had taken effect, I guess. Before too long, I was able to return to my auditing with a clear mind. In fact, I couldn't even remember who or what I was auditing. Discrepancy? No, I couldn't even find it again. It's amazing what just a little socializing can accomplish in the daily life of the auditor.  After all, one can't forget that auditing is really about people.  Well, not really.