I just don't get it (a rant)

I just don't get people, I guess. A person the age of my kids starts telling me about something I have an intimate knowledge of...taxes and the possibilities of audit, and how this person is going to add this and that onto the business expenses (car payment, gas receipts (without receipts), unsubstantiated mileage, etc.) for a job that she was paid to do "under the table" without having withholding taken out.  I explain how that isn't legal and will likely get the interest of the IRS and an audit to follow. So then she's going to report the work as income to "stick it to her boss" for paying her under the table.  It all seems pretty shaky to me, and I so don't mess around with my taxes that I pay a very good accountant that is also a tax lawyer to do my taxes every year.  I sleep much better at night that way.
Been there with the audit thing, done that, made a simple arithmetic error in a very different situation, but it triggered a not so pleasant trip downtown to substantiate every penny on my return just because of the math error.  What a nightmare.  I had no clue what it was all about when I was "asked" to come in.  It isn't smart to do anything that you don't fully understand on your tax form, so I didn't. I didn't count on being unable to hit the right keys on my calculator being such a problem, so I can only imagine what they'd do with a more complicated situation.  The IRS isn't kidding around, even if you think you did everything right.

So after talking to this person, my frustration level went up as the conversation continued.  Just shoot me, ok?  So you'd think that the voice of reason (me) that advised "talk to someone that knows what they're doing...not Liberty tax for free" before you send it in would have some weight. But no. I get told that "I don't want to talk about this anymore" because I wasn't saying what this person wanted to hear. Great, huh?  That kind of attitude really puzzles me. At least get a handle on some of the questions to ask when you go wandering into the "free tax prep place".  And please remember that you get what you pay for.

I felt like saying "then why even mention it to me if you already were sure that you knew everything that there was to know", but I stayed polite.  Heck, google your questions at the very least prior to running off and doing something that you could really get in trouble for. And in the future, don't even bother to ask me anything, ok?  Because although I have 30 years of life experience on you, everything I say is "stupid" and instantly discounted.  Ok, rant over.

From a sociological point of view, I think that this type of attitude is endemic in society today anyway.  I've seen it more often in the people younger than I am more so than in people my age (and if anyone wants to know, I only admit to being 29).  If a person comes looking for pats on the back and instead they get some good old fashioned feedback that perhaps they should look at the situation a bit differently, then they don't want to hear it.  Heck, I don't care if you take my advice or the advice of any other person on a subject, but at least listen and look into any concerns that you hear.  I don't know if the inability to listen to concerns from another person all the way through is because we're such a "soundbite" society with no attention span anymore due to technology and the constant stream of information coming in that dulls our senses. It sure seems that those that seem to know it all often do the least good research and have the least accurate information.  Ok, I feel better now.  Remind me in a couple of years when this person gets audited that I wrote this post.  :)