FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 20th – 27th OCTOBER 2024
I am composing the log early this week as I am preparing to head to Dublin for finance meetings in connection with my role as Provincial Bursar for the Passionists of St. Patrick’s Province. It’s a role I have held for almost sixteen years now and one in which I think I suffer from a form of Imposter Syndrome, which is a kind of self-doubt in regard to possessing the necessary skills for the job you are responsible for. You might remember the revelation from his son, around this time last year, that the late, great Michael Parkinson had suffered from this syndrome. Like so many people who would have loved tuning into Parky’s chat shows over the years, and watched him interview personalities from all walks of life, I would never have suspected that he was wracked with self-doubt that he, a working-class lad from Barnsley, was worthy to be in the presence of these hugely famous and talented people. He seemed to do it so effortlessly and brilliantly, always making sure that it was about the interviewee and not about him, unlike many talk show hosts today, in my experience.
I suggest that I might suffer from this syndrome with my tongue slightly in my cheek, but my reason for saying so is that I think I landed this role because I had studied accountancy in my past life.
However, as I often remind people, I studied accountancy in a pre-computer age, which is light years away from the present world of accountancy. I had started studying while working for Olivetti in Queenslie, after being made redundant from the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Clydebank, attending night classes twice a week, and getting day release on a Friday. I began my studies in 1970 at the Glasgow College of Commerce and Distribution, in what had been part of the old Wills cigarette factory in Hanson Street. If memory serves me, I then continued studies in Cathedral Street in 1972, when it was renamed the Central College of Commerce, in what is now part of the City of Glasgow College, where our dear Father Gareth is now chaplain. I finished my studies in 1974-75 in what was then named the Glasgow College of Technology, and what is now the Glasgow Caledonian University. Even the title of my course changed, when what had started out as the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants (ICWA) then became the Association of Cost and Management Accountants (ACMA). I’m sure it will now be called something else altogether. After finishing studies in the summer of 1975, I joined the Passionists that autumn.
When I say it was a pre-computer age, I mean that the ground floor of the Olivetti factory in Queenslie at that time was largely taken up by a massive Data Processing Department, where digital data was stored using punched holes on punch cards, which were then processed through automated machines, manufactured by IBM, resulting in layers and layers of printed out material, which then had to be sifted through meticulously to find whatever information was required. The Data Processing Department would often be working over the weekend so that, on a Monday morning, I would come in and find one or more of these printouts on my desk. These would then determine at least part of what my work was going to entail for the coming week, for example, having to use the data to produce costings for new projects, or sometimes having to ferret out and investigate anomalies, along with a multitude of other tasks that were part of a Cost Accountant’s job at that time. When you think of how much data can now be stored on a tiny little chip these days, you can understand why I would say that my experience was light years away from the world of accountancy today. Probably my only credential for this role now is that I am still quite good at counting. If you need someone to quickly calculate your countdown score from 501 on a dartboard, I’m your man. Beyond that, I’m very grateful to our wonderful provincial secretary in Dublin who understands far better than me what needs to be done and how to do it, and just requires me to give, what I hope looks like an intelligent nod now and again, to vouch agreement. God be with the days!
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
I am composing the log early this week as I am preparing to head to Dublin for finance meetings in connection with my role as Provincial Bursar for the Passionists of St. Patrick’s Province. It’s a role I have held for almost sixteen years now and one in which I think I suffer from a form of Imposter Syndrome, which is a kind of self-doubt in regard to possessing the necessary skills for the job you are responsible for. You might remember the revelation from his son, around this time last year, that the late, great Michael Parkinson had suffered from this syndrome. Like so many people who would have loved tuning into Parky’s chat shows over the years, and watched him interview personalities from all walks of life, I would never have suspected that he was wracked with self-doubt that he, a working-class lad from Barnsley, was worthy to be in the presence of these hugely famous and talented people. He seemed to do it so effortlessly and brilliantly, always making sure that it was about the interviewee and not about him, unlike many talk show hosts today, in my experience.
I suggest that I might suffer from this syndrome with my tongue slightly in my cheek, but my reason for saying so is that I think I landed this role because I had studied accountancy in my past life.
However, as I often remind people, I studied accountancy in a pre-computer age, which is light years away from the present world of accountancy. I had started studying while working for Olivetti in Queenslie, after being made redundant from the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Clydebank, attending night classes twice a week, and getting day release on a Friday. I began my studies in 1970 at the Glasgow College of Commerce and Distribution, in what had been part of the old Wills cigarette factory in Hanson Street. If memory serves me, I then continued studies in Cathedral Street in 1972, when it was renamed the Central College of Commerce, in what is now part of the City of Glasgow College, where our dear Father Gareth is now chaplain. I finished my studies in 1974-75 in what was then named the Glasgow College of Technology, and what is now the Glasgow Caledonian University. Even the title of my course changed, when what had started out as the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants (ICWA) then became the Association of Cost and Management Accountants (ACMA). I’m sure it will now be called something else altogether. After finishing studies in the summer of 1975, I joined the Passionists that autumn.
When I say it was a pre-computer age, I mean that the ground floor of the Olivetti factory in Queenslie at that time was largely taken up by a massive Data Processing Department, where digital data was stored using punched holes on punch cards, which were then processed through automated machines, manufactured by IBM, resulting in layers and layers of printed out material, which then had to be sifted through meticulously to find whatever information was required. The Data Processing Department would often be working over the weekend so that, on a Monday morning, I would come in and find one or more of these printouts on my desk. These would then determine at least part of what my work was going to entail for the coming week, for example, having to use the data to produce costings for new projects, or sometimes having to ferret out and investigate anomalies, along with a multitude of other tasks that were part of a Cost Accountant’s job at that time. When you think of how much data can now be stored on a tiny little chip these days, you can understand why I would say that my experience was light years away from the world of accountancy today. Probably my only credential for this role now is that I am still quite good at counting. If you need someone to quickly calculate your countdown score from 501 on a dartboard, I’m your man. Beyond that, I’m very grateful to our wonderful provincial secretary in Dublin who understands far better than me what needs to be done and how to do it, and just requires me to give, what I hope looks like an intelligent nod now and again, to vouch agreement. God be with the days!
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
RSS Feed
