Professional Three Card Monty

I have never played 3 card Monty. It’s a sucker game. You know you can’t win. They win by diversion, confusion and complexity. About the time you think you know where the card is the dealer moves it. You can’t win. He holds the cards and you are always behind the next move he makes. He wins by keeping you confused.

The same is true of some professions. They live by the confusion that exists in their field. Even if they don’t cause it, they live on it. It’s professional 3 card Monty. It’s the pea under the walnut. It’s magic.

I am blessed/cursed to have a great deal to do with some of the more confusing components of existence.

• The Law
• Healthcare
• Taxes

The law. I have been involved in some lawsuits. I have gone to court. The man that represents himself has a fool for a lawyer and a client. Lincoln said that. The complexity in the law has come to the point that if you are even in the most basic legal dispute you need lawyers. They work hard. But it is so confusing and so convoluted that you spend more than it might have otherwise cost you. That’s why so much of the law bent on settlement is basically legal extortion. If you sue someone you can collect because they don’t want to go to court. About the time you think you understand it you can count on the pea being under another walnut.
3 Card Monty.

Healthcare. I fell off a truck last spring and broke my arm. Not dangling. Cracked my wrist. I went to urgent care. 4 different doctors treated me; The one who looked at it first, the one who set it first, the osteopath who set it in a sling, and the x-ray doctor. Plus there were two different facilities. And 4 visits. The bill for all this came to somewhere between 800 and 3600 dollars. We got bills from the clinic, and notices of various types twice a week for months. The insurance company decided they would, wouldn’t, did, didn’t, wanted to, and didn’t want to pay. We kept all the paperwork in a file. It’s now 3” deep. That all happened 8 months ago. This week we got a bill from the clinic. The insurance company decided 8 months after the fact that they shouldn’t have paid something they had already paid. They want us to pay it. We will even though we had received absolution from the clinic paid in full. Now this. I challenge anyone to really understand this. It’s extortion by confusion. 3 Card Monty.

IRS and Accountants. I almost hate to bring this one up, it’s legendary that if you call the IRS about one problem 5 times you will get 5 different answers. That level of confusion is inexcusable. If you do your own taxes you are in the same category as the man who represents himself in court. I say that assuming you have some level of complexity in your tax form. I have had tax issues. I have had a few accountants in my life. Of the half dozen or so only two were worth their salt. They make their living by interpreting the tea leaves of the tax code to the best of their ability and way beyond your ability to deal with it. The IRS continues to move the pea under the walnut so that about the time you or your accountant believes you have a handle on your situation they reveal the fact that the pea isn’t where you thought it was. 3 Card Monty.

I don’t have a cure for this problem. I just wanted to complain and call it what it is. A con game you can’t win any more than you can win 3 card Monty.