Voluntary Disclosure

Okay, so three years after working for an accounting firm, I finally learned my second accounting terminology -- voluntary disclosure (the first one is "immaterial"). Evidently in the world of taxation, companies screw up a lot and will "forget" to pay state taxes, so the voluntary disclosure program allows them to disclose that fact that they messed up, and pay up all the back taxes within the time frame requested by the state, and the state will forgive whatever else they own... you get the idea. I suppose in the medical field, there's a very similar concept of "informed consent," which basically states that "you've been informed and you consent (to certain procedure)." Or in layman's term it's called "heads up"?

I realized that I have been embracing the concept of voluntary disclosure even before I know the term. I think it's always better to be upfront about things, just to avoid disappointment later. When I met Hubby online, the first thing I told him, literally, was that I'm messy. I mean, if he's a neat freak, or reasonably neat, really, there is no point in wasting both of our time. Same thing when I joined my current softball team, when I was responding to the craigslist ad, first thing I mentioned in my email to the dude was, "Is this a 'for fun' or 'competitive' team?" That was about as subtle as I could possibly convey the point that "Look, I really suck, so do it at your own risk."

I guess in the end, I just hate wasting time. By the same token, going forward I should learn to "walk" in various situations. The next condescending doctor/dentist I run into, I should just get up and say, "Sorry, this is not working out" and walk out of the office (I wonder if I would still need to cough out the copayment without service rendered.) The next job interview that goes south -- you know, the point when you just know that you've f* up so badly it's not going to happen? -- I want to stand up and say, "Look, we both know this is not going to happen, so let's just call it a day..." Wouldn't that just be so awesome? :D