Three Sundays Ago, I Saved A Man’s Life
I went to church in Lincoln Park, and then to Belmont Harbor where my 30′ sailboat sits in a slip on D Dock. I took her out by myself for about three and a half hours.
We had winds out of the Southeast at five to ten knots and waves less than a foot once I was five or six miles out. When I brought my sailboat, Gray Nights, back to the slip I tied her back up to the dock, plugged in the battery charger, and was tying down my sails when I heard…
“Help!”
I was standing on the top of my cabin, so I looked around, but nothing out of the ordinary came to mind other than a boat four slips down at the extreme western end of the dock being at a 45-degree angle in its slip. It was taking up both spaces where two boats normally rest, rather than being on one side. Again I heard…
“Help!”
So I hopped onto the dock, ran over to the boat, and again didn’t see anything out of the ordinary until I looked into the water. Her Captain was holding himself out of the water by clinging to life on a cleat anchored to the dock.
He said, “I fell in and don’t have the strength to pull myself out.” The dock doesn’t have swim ladders so a person can easily get out and I was the only one on that side of the dock that late afternoon.
But he had a swim ladder on the stern of his sailboat, so I unlocked it from it’s position, let it down, and said, “Swim over here. We can get you out with your boat’s ladder.”
He said, “I just had a hip replacement, but I’ll try.”
The swim wasn’t easy for him, but he made it, and I got him onto the dock and out of harm’s way. I checked his vitals, made sure he didn’t need any medical attention, and that was it. He looked at me and said, “You know, you just saved my life.”
I said, “Let’s just thank God that I was here to help.” And that was it. I buttoned up my boat and went home.
I’m not telling you this story to brag, but to explain something about myself and my profession.
I work in a business of secrets. Confidentiality isn’t just a rule in Public Accounting.
It’s a way of life for those of us who take the business seriously. Once we leave our offices, we can’t talk about what happened during the day to anyone…ever.
What I did three Sundays ago wasn’t about recognition. I don’t want medals, plaques, or any of the rest of that.
It was about one Sailor helping another. It was about doing the right thing.
The same is true for my professional life and how I run Accounting Solutions.
I could tell you stories about the $75M company that I took through an audit. The IRS came in like Hatchet Men expecting to walk away with a huge check.
Instead, they left with their tails between their legs after giving me a “No Change” Letter.
I could tell you about the 17-year-old girl who walked into my office six years ago without an appointment. Her mother was a junkie who had run up a $300K tax bill on old payroll taxes from a beauty salon she’d owned a decade before.
Her mother had gone into a Methadone Program so the IRS had finally found her and were trying to put her in jail. If she’d gone into the slammer, her daughter would have ended up in the Foster Care System.
The daughter had a 4.2 GPA at Lane Tech after accounting for her advanced placement grades and had already received a full scholarship to Princeton. I could tell you how I ensured she didn’t go into Foster Care, graduated with Honors, and is now in Medical School.
But I can’t provide any particulars…ever.
Or I could tell you about the day-to-day business of running a premier accounting and tax firm where most of my clients are perfect audit targets putting $300K to $400K on their 1040s. I haven’t had even one of them audited at the Federal Level in 12 years. Why?
Because our work is that good, the Service has no reason to knock on their doors. My clients sleep like babies at night.
But just like what I did three Sundays ago, it’s not about recognition. Its about one person helping another.
It’s simply about doing the right thing. And after all, isn’t that what being an American is supposed to be about?
As always, if you’re having difficulties with your accounting and tax work. I’d love to help.
Please contact me today, and I’ll do the right thing.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together…
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
888-310-0300
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
www.SalarySolutions.net
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