Questions! There are so many that come our way day to day that we usually simply answer them and move on with our lives.

Like everyone else, there are those questions that come my way on occasion that are either intrusive, irrelevant, or presumptuous. It’s seriously hard to narrow those down to simply one, so I’m going to give you a few examples. See if some form of the same question doesn’t resonate with your own experience.

QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE OR AREA OF COLLEGE STUDY OR DEGREE

Way back in the 90’s, I graduated college with a double major in Accounting as well as Finance and Banking. Shortly after graduation, I began working for a CPA firm and quickly realized I was not terribly fond of being stuck in a room for hours a day doing bank reconciliations for a ton of companies (I hate reconciling my own bank account to this day – although I still do). I eventually found a different position working in employee benefits, which I’ve done now for many years.

With that background story in mind, I cannot count how many requests I’ve had to do people’s individual tax returns, questions about tax law and things like “what’s the difference between a debit and a credit” (or a liability vs, asset) and the like. I even get questions now and then about how to raise a person’s credit score (because I’m not a financial planner, I always advise them to seek out competent financial advice and leave it at that).

The employee benefits area doesn’t get ignored either. Whether I find myself brushing up on COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) law, attempting to understand Medicare and/or Medicaid, delving into Long-Term Care, or reviewing and helping someone figure out which company benefit offerings to select, I’ve had just about every benefits question imaginable asked of me. Oh, and don’t get me started trying to help someone understand how HSA accounts work with high deductible health plans!

Perhaps my best response these type of questions would be this: www.google.com

NO, MY FIRST NAME AIN’T JONATHAN

For it being in the 60’s, my parents were pretty “hip” to choose the spelling of my first name as “Jon” vs. the biblical version of “John”. Although I did go through a short phase in school where I decided to spell it with the “H” (oh, the peer pressure!), I have always loved the mix of a short first name with my longer last name. My only issue with it other than the “H” would be the people asking me if it’s short for Jonathan or Johnathan. Not a big deal, but it comes up often enough to make this list!

I KNOW YOU JUST SAT DOWN, BUT CAN YOU [FILL IN THE BLANK] FOR ME?

Co-workers. Family. Friends. They all do it at one time or another.

You’ve just completed a lengthy task successfully (or finished work for the day) and now it’s time to finally plunk down into your seat and relax. But wait ten seconds…10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

“Um, could you (get me a drink, join a zoom call, grab a snack in the break room) with/for me?

Not a huge issue, but sometimes you just want to chill or focus on your work alone.

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Surely there are many other questions that irk me a bit when they come up, but these are the first ones that came to mind when I read the prompt.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Curiosity and all, I would love to know the experiences and questions you get asked enough to tick up your annoyance level a notch or two. Take a moment to share with us in the comments!