talus slope of the mind

This might be the single greatest evidence that I was never fully qualified to work in government: behold an angry email about my work—

For those who can’t read it from the image above:

Hello.  I was just doing a query on your property tax account website for an audit I am performing and when I put a dash in the account number I was using, I got an error message that said “Uh, that needs to be a number, yo.”  Although the account number I was using was incorrect, I find that error message to be offensive and highly unprofessional.  I have attached a print out of the website and the error message. Please consider changing your website.

It’s from a CPA at the Utah State Auditor’s Office. As Master Yoda might say: Wound a little tight these state government people are.

For a short time, I changed the message from “Uh, that needs to be a number, yo.” to “I’m terribly sorry sir and/or madam, but the information supplied in this field must be formatted as a proper integer.” (Read, or course, with the requisite British accent.) To which a very exasperated boss just sort of sighed out, “Would you just please make it say ‘This entry needs to be a proper number.’?” Alas, it is so.

Have I mentioned how glad I am this is my last week? :)