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When nightmares come true.....

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by geekchic 2 views

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Ok, here goes...one of the techs went to a users desk to change out her monitor. She still had one of those 15", fuzzy screened and clunky monitors. We were going to give her a new nifty 19" flat screen.

Have you ever seen the "deer in the headlights look"?? Well, she immediately freaked out and got very upset. She didn't want us to take her monitor. When the tech didn't understand her panic and she was almost in tears and the tech was ready to kill her....I was brought in to "talk her down".

I asked her a lot of questions and gently explained to her that the advantages of the new monitor. It was much lighter, had a larger screen then her previous monitor, had a much clearer/cleaner screen, would be easier to move around on her desk and it could be adjusted "7 ways from Sunday" so it would be a very good swap for her.

She was still freaked out so after I asked her a half dozen more questions she finally blurted out in a shaky voice "you can't take that monitor, all of my data is in there..."

Awww...geez....

159 replies

by jamesrl

There have been a few computers, both Mac and PC, where the motherboard and the monitor were in the same cabinet.

She may not have understood the configuration she had, and yes I would have laughed, but not gotten upset. Not knowing is inevitable, I don't know everything about computers and I highly doubt anyone I know does. Everyone doesn't know at least a few things.

The only ones I get down on are those who are willfully ignorant. I used to sing in a choir, 4 part harmony(sometimes more) and one of the singers beside me did not read music, though it was clearly in his capacity to learn. He didn't care to learn because as a child he was in school choirs where no one read music. So instead he sits beside me, trusts me to read the music correctly and memorises what I sing. That kind of willfull ignorance (I offered to tutor him)is hard to take. And if everyone did it, then we wouldn't be able to have a choir, because complex musical pieces do require the ability to read, even if we memorize it for performance purposes.

Similarly in technology, I don't mind those who don't know something, if they have an open mind to learning. Its the ones who willfully resist learning that bug me.

James

by geekchic

as I understand it, this lady has been with this company for a very long time and gone through several computer changes. Don't know why she never protested before??

by ttosun

What more can you say? I do agree completely with James though. Perhaps she was used to using an old Mac and just thought all computers worked the same way.

Working for an IT consulting company I have dealt with so many "little old ladies" (no offense to you ladies but that's exactly what they were) which were taught how to use dumb terminals in a car dealership environment. Once upgrades to the computer systems of these dealerships were made, dumb terminals were no longer used.

Introducing....the mouse!!! Holy, MOLY! This turned the "little old ladies'" world upside down! Do you know how many lessons I had to give on the concept of double-clicking? Exausting!
Oh, and what's this? A color monitor? WOWEEE!!After years of staring at a dumb terminal with green font, this must have been like being re-born to these ladies.

But here's the point. It's not that they were ignorant or unwilling to learn, it's just that after 20 or so years of using the same hardware, following procedure on inputing data, these "little old ladies" now had to re-learn how to use a PC.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I say the dog is probably just thinking, "What's the point?" and so it becomes harder to explain.

Remember folks, a handfull of patience is worth more than a bushelful of brains.

Happy dealing!

by old guy

Thanks for adding the handful of patience; especially with the post from Jaqui below. It's not hard to be patient with the older employees if you really want to. Sure there are times when I want to just wring some of their necks and once I get behind a closed door I may pound the desk a little but they will never know it. I decided long ago that I will never be short with user in trying to teach them in the computers. This comes from respecting other people because I want other people to respect me as a person, too. Also, one of these days I/we will be the older people.

Also, you probably already do this but I found having a user who has trouble with the mouse sit down and play solitary helps them tremendously.

by choppit

I've just migrated my users from SAP R/3 to a text terminal based app. Three weeks on and I'm still having users call me to report mouse problems.....

by blieffring9

I have worked both key driven and mouse driven applications. Most data entry programs work very well with arrow, tab, ctl, esc, and pf driven menus. You can't mouse 50 wpm. Word, quark, and most other apps are faster if you memorize the key commands.
Mouse driven apps tend to get lost in menus that should be in a different window driven by a different application.
The problem is trying to shift from a tightly organized mass production format to a free form application where most of the productive rules no longer work. The tricks you taught the horse no longer work with the sports car, but you didn't have to build the road as you went.

by cheesel

Been there, done that... The little old ladies were used to dumb terminals. Then they got weaned off the terminals and put on PC's in the mid 90's and were provided AmiPro. In 1997 the company started moving to Word. Oh man, those little old ladies would NOT give up their AmiPro!

by oldbag

I take care of technology for 3 dealerships. First, I had to drag them into the new millenium including such technical wonders as PC and email!

Many times, I have been asked to come over right away, that they could not complete a deal or print an urgent report and they needed my presense right NOW! Oh no, they could not answer my questions, there was no time. There have been times that I have said that they would have to wait an hour, a day or whatever before I could get there but talk to me and see if I could help them out over the phone. I swear 9 times out of 10 I am able to help them out during that call.

They ask me how I can know all this 'stuff'. My best answer to that is 'experience' but I will also tell them that I would never, ever attempt to sell, repair or find parts. We all have our jobs and I have an unwritten agreement with everyone that we will not tell the other how to do our jobs.

By the way, since this is a very customer focused business, I will always defer to a customer. If the user is busy with a customer, I will always find something to occupy myself while I wait to be able to sit down at someone's workstation. If a customer is looking for assistance and I am the only one in that vicinity, I will politely explain to them why I cannot help them and then promptly find them someone who can.

by Former member

An old dog can learn new tricks (I do almost every day), but he/she has to have some kind of motivation. In my agency, there is no management emphasis on learning how to use the PC's we have, and most of the users are not motivated to learn any more than the absolute basics. So we wind up with people who have been using a Windows PC for several years, and don't know how to copy a file from from one folder to another, or even what a folder is. I do blame the users somewhat for not having any curiosity or self-motivation, but the major blame lieas on the command structure for creating a "don't wanna learn" environment.

by placidair

I've run across the mouse problem a few times -- in most cases I've had the enduser had a problem holding the mouse completely still while they double-clicked -- whether because of parkinsen's disease or some other shaking issue. I swapped their mouses out with the very large Kensington track balls and showed them that they could position the cursor, take their hand completely off the ball itself so that it would remain stationary, and then click on the buttons. In every case it took care of the problem. I don't personally have any kind of illness that would cause that -- but give me too much caffeine and I have the same problem with double-clicking.

by fluidtech

There is NOTHING I don't know about the PC.

Well actually there is one thing. I still can't get it to send a fax when I place my page against the screen and hit "Print Screen" button.

BUT other than that I'm a whizz!

by ttosun

I don't think I've laughed this hard in a long time. Very funny. Kudos on your post.

by chesswidow

My hubby teaches the MCSE/MCDBA curriculum and gets a lot of "career changers" that are out of work. Needless to say, the sales staff doesn't always screen them very well. In the past 5 years, he has actually had 3 different students that "just wanted to get into computers" and tried holding the mouse on the screen to click! LOL He's got great patience with them & usually gets them into a more suitable class first.

by stargazerr

Sales people in my company never want to know the reasons as to why a specific service is not working .... they prefer to wave their hand and go ... "Just tell me when you can fix it"

But then, thats sales people for you .. Blissfully Ignorant ...

]:)

by ryoung2

Maybe the person beside you could not read. Illiterate people are very good at hiding it. Learning disabilities are only now becoming known and only the very brave are willing to admit they are having problems. Many musicians learned to play instruments by ear and do not knkow how to read music. Including Sir Paul McCartney.

by wizardofj

I have lots of users that think all the information is stored on the "TV", and these are not people who have paid attention to the fact that some computers are configured that way - they just plain don't know and don't try to look up anything - they are proud that they are not computer literate. Lots of comments I get that their modem won't come on ( meaning the whole tower) and nothing works (because they turned off the monitor) and "it worked ok last year before I put it in the shed to store it"
well, I figure it's a good thing - I never have to wonder if I'll have work next week!

by swgoldwire2546

The ones who willfully resist learning insist on being ignorant--they would rather not know.

Kudos to you for not throwing pearls to the pigs!

-swg

by Former member

The big difference between ignorance and stupidity is that ignorance is curable.

by bfilmfan

I assume that she doesn't need a VCR or DVD or Tivo cause all her shows and movies are in the TV?

On additional thoughts, you did ask for her manager to sign her up for computer training I hope...

by geekchic

well, I would be the one to train her and I have tried...and tried...and tried to explain things to her. Even done hands on stuff with her but it just doesn't sink in. I tried to explain to the tech (and sometimes these young guys just don't get it either) that not everyone is computer literate or willing to be computer literate. However, I just couldn't help but find her response funny...and no, I didn't let her know that I found it funny.

by jamesrl

I once had the um pleasure... of supporting the executive floor at a Fortune 100 company. One of the executive assistants (admin assistants, what we used to call executive secretaries) was somewhat advanced in years, and not very good with computers. We were constantly visiting her and helping her print out things from the mainframe email system. In the end, dispite creating cheat sheets and all kinds of other material, we all decided to just stop trying to educate her, and just give her unconditional support whenever she asked.

The inevitable happened, and the divisional president she worked for was promoted. New person came in, and within 3 weeks she was out the door. Don't feel sorry for her, she made good coin(more than I did certainly) and earned alot of company stock and had a good pension. She was within a year of retirement anyways. The new President decided he could not put up with her till her retirement. And by the way we were a technology company.

James

by jaqui

go to her desk before she starts work, remove the hard drive from the case and put it on her desk, remove everything else.

point ot that she has all her data still when she freaks.
and that until she learns computers it's not accessable. ;)

by rhodamyster

How do you explain to someone that they need extensive computer training?
Especially if it is your own boss?
My boss doesn't even understand the concept of single click, double click or right click of the mouse.
She wants to use her email in the business, but I cannot get it in her head that she must check her email & reply to customers on a daily basis.
I work for her company as a computer tech, e-commerce manager, web design & maintenance, graphic design, internet consultant etc?. (Anything that involves computers)
I also went to school for all of the above, knowing that this company needed all of the above.
I do most of my work for this company out of my home office, unless I am needed on the site.
I cannot even get her to understand how many people she is actually getting out of me (just one person)
Anyhow, I receive calls at my home office almost every day with questions on how to do something in simple software programs such as; Word, Excel, QuickBooks, PowerPoint etc?. Also complaints about the Internet not working, cannot open email or attachments etc??
Most of this is user error & unknowledgeable computer users.
Oh & by the way ---- I get paid less than $20.00 an hour.
Please HELP ? how do I stress to my boss that she & other co-workers get some extra computer training?
This would only benefit her & the company.

by b.brodie

Try to justify to her how much money she can save the company, by getting more out of her employees.
Let her know that on average, you spend x amount of hour dealing with "training issue" and that equates to lost productivity.
Where as you estimate that each user would be x% more productive if the company spent x on a training program.

Running numbers usually works, as long as the people you are speaking to are business minded, and you would hope they are if they are in an authoritative position.

At the end of the day, if you don't have the skills to do your job, you better damn well learn, not get others to do it for you.

Try not to give in, take another holiday, go away for 2 weeks, and have no, or limited contact. You could even call in after week 1, and ask if they need any help, only to say that without any access to a computer, you will do it first thing when you get back, but it all depends on how you think your boss would react?

by dc guy

And which a previous poster already alluded to. The average Homo sapiens does not have the attitude, talent, education, and time to become computer literate.

They expect the computer to be one more appliance which they can turn on, use, turn off, and forget. Maybe call you once or twice a year with a problem, just like they do with their car.

The next time you fantasize about all the people on Earth getting wired during your lifetime, and assuming that they'll just get used to the infuriating nature of Windows and the internet like you did, think of this lady! These are not people who are going to tolerate Windows and the internet in their HOMES!

Regarding the lady who was "somewhat advanced in years," it sounds like she was about my age. I know a number of people in their 70s and 80s who tear up the internet and do desktop publishing for their families. And I know an equal number of people in their 20s and 30s who simply will not expend the effort it requires to master these infernal devices.

by hetzel

I'm sure people said the same thing about cars in the 30s. Remember, they used to need complete engine overhauls at 25-30k miles, adjustments made for drastic temperature changes, tires that were doing great if they lasted more than 5k miles, etc....

The computer will eventually become another appliance once we finally figure out what we want them to do for us.

Right now, the manufacturers are still simply adding features to see what takes off and what dies on the starting line.

Every couple of generations, a new technology drifts around that, if your reasonably intelligent and desire to make life easier, needs to be mastered (at least enough to logically work through problems).

We're going to always have folks who would be quite content to cook over an open fire pit and skin the animals for clothing as long as they only have to learn something once and then simply become a cog in the machine.

But don't forget, a major paradigm shift can be difficult to overcome for some folks.

by antuck

I get that stare more then I think I should sometimes. It is funny when you start talking and see the stare. You know right then to stop talking.

In this case, it is funny, but a chuckle for later. It sounds like this was a tough one to deal with. Which only makes your job harder.

I hate the ones who act like they know so much about computers but are really the problem themsleves. They like to stand over your shoulder to watch and critize your work. These are the ones I want to turn and tell them to shut up.

by the_fixer

The biggest thing that I had to learn was to be more patient with people. I have a project manager that always criticizes your work while fixing his issue. ?We didn?t do it like that where I used to work.? is the comment that I always hear. I have to bite my tongue and explain that this is how it works here and that there are always different ways to fix things. I have stopped trying to explain things in technical terms and try to keep the answer as simple as I can make it.

by jamesrl

I've been in his shoes. You come into a new company and discover its more bureacratic than your previous one, and its irritating to not be able to get things done like you used to. So you mention the previous workplace a bit too often.

But "thats the ways its always been done" isn't a good answer either. If that were the case , nothing would ever improve.

The best answer is to look at the process, and determine what the best possible way to do it is.

Be open to his suggestions, and perhaps he will be more open to yours. But exchanging one pat answer for another isn't productive or helpful.

James

by mek804

When this happens, a mysterious error occurs and I have to take
their unit back to the office. It'll take a few days at least!

by too old for it

... where I do a little part time consulting.

the pharmacy and hemodialysis lab and HIPPA and other medical businesses live or die on their distributed network.

CEO and head of HR do not have a PC on their desks. Just "don' want to be messin' wiff those things"

Go figure.

by too old for it

At one company I contracted with, there was a position of "Executive Support". One guy, had a desk in a former admin's location, which was all his, and an admin assistant of his own. All he did was support the "mahogany hallway".

Strange, when he had to be out for training, vacation or whatever, no one left the meeting in fear of being "volunteered" for the job...

by jamesrl

One person isn't enough, because people go on vacation, training, sick days etc.

Most of them were ok. I did have one challenge me on a PC security policy. I told him that if he got a letter from the head of IT security, I would do whatever he wanted. He said, great I hired that guy. Needless to say the letter never came and I never compromised. It helped that I knew the CIO well and knew he would always have my back.

James

James

by too old for it

They had to temporarily replace the guy who was executive support one day. He called onthe gurney on his way in for emergency lower GI surgery. (Nah, no stress in that job.)

Had a department meeting, announcement was made that they needed a volunteer to cover. No one said a word, and no one moved to leave the meeting for over 2 hours.

by blieffring9

... is a different beast. It is a position of discretion, corporate trust and IT skills. They need someone that won't tell personal secrets, inside trade on future corporate news, or post confidential memos and termination lists. The position wouldn't be filled by chance. They have access to more combined inside HR and business information than board members and department heads.

by the_fixer

I have seen this as well. I have been in this field for 10 years and have seen so many issues like this. The best one was a trouble ticket call for a bad monitor. I got a new monitor from storage went in to the office to change it and found that someone had switched the power button to the "off" position. Imagine that. The user was very embarassed. I told her not be embarrassed. I would rather have 10 calls like that instead of trying to read the sniffer to find out which card on the network has gone bad and is broadcasting garbage.

by ttosun

Working at an IT consulting company, we had many clients all over the Tri-State area. We're in NY. One of our NJ customers calls and says her dumb terminal is "broken". She sees the power light on, but no display. After some time with her on the phone, my boss decides the monitor needs to be replaced. It's under maintenance with us. So I drive out to West Jersey, Sussex County, for those of you who know the area, from the middle of Long Island (Stony Brook area), 3hrs. one way, to replace this woman's dumb terminal.

When I got there I found the brightness knob to be turned all the way down. AAARRRGHHHHH!!!!

6 f'n hour drive just to turn this lady's brightness up on her monitor.

Needless to say I was quite upset with my boss for not figuring that one out. He felt bad so I got the VIP treatment at a Yankees game.

by computeach247

That's the kinda stuff that will always keep IT techs in business :)

I had a user once all upset, she says "The copier is broken again, we just had the tech out here yesterday" The entire North East USA was out of power mind you.

by computeach247

That's the kinda stuff that will always keep IT techs in business :)

I had a user once all upset, she says "The copier is broken again, we just had the tech out here yesterday" The entire North East USA was out of power mind you. I told her to try & kick it, see if that helps.

by Member 28898618

May see the world. The best IT skills are much like bedside manner skills MDs must learn in school before seeing patience. The core problem here is not just aboug ignorance, its about troubleshooting the correct cause for the reaction from the user. Really, all customer service problems center largely on what the customer views is the problem to begin with. And how the customer understands what solution being proposed actually works. Learning how to see the clients viewpoint is as important as providing a solution for that user.

by master3bs

I've spoken to several people who honestly thought the monitor was the computer. The computer itself, I suppose, is just a very heavy on/off switch.

by ldyosng

And bring them along gently - if they want to come along. I try to make my users feel as if it really is possible for them to get good with their computers eventually. Whenever I get called to a desk for a minor tweak (I can't find a file, my Outlook contacts are sorted in the wrong order, how do I merge Excel data into a Word document, my mouse is misbehaving . . .) I try to teach them a navigation shortcut, or how to clean their mouse, or where on the menu to look to change sort definitions, etc. In return, they think I'm helpful, and I can get back to the network and database while they focus on supporting cancer patients.

by Member 28898618

Just when you think users are below you technically, you find yourself surprised one day with then least among them shows you a shortcut or a tip.

by geekchic

I do manage to be nice to users like this...that is why they call me in to "negotiate". I understand that not everyone is computer literate or even wants to be computer literate. In fact, my husband HATES technology in any form. So I deal with it at work AND at home. When I got home from work one day last week my husband was watching TV but there was no sound (luckily the closed captioning was on). I asked him why he was watching TV with no sound and he said he accidently pushed some &*$#& button on the remote and turned off the sound and couldn't figure out how to turn it back on. I took the remote and clicked one button and boom sound...I love the man dearly but boy or boy....

I do enjoy what I do and it is kind of fun to hear some of the things people believe about computers. Kind of scary too.

by Member 28898618

Yea, I had a pain in my prostate one day and decided to fix it myself. All I had to do is pull out a box opener, cut-snip, and whamo, I was .342lbs lighter, and feeling good. Internists, who needs 'em.

by ttosun

Your husband is a man, right? I mean, no offense to you or any other woman, God knows I love you all, but a man that can't work a remote?!?!?

I thought I've heard it all.

by geekchic

he can use power tools, build furniture, in fact he took down the back wall of our house when it got eaten up by termites and rebuilt it but anything technical...he just doesn't get.

by swgoldwire2546

Your husband is probably a luddite resisting to changes in technology.

Change is good for the well adjusted (bad for those who are just plain ignorant).

-swg

by geekchic

Change doesn't bother him and he is far from ignorant and/or not well adjusted...just technically challanged. Everyone in life has things that they are good at and things that they are not. I suck at math and anything that has anything to do with numbers just makes me "glaze over". But I am far from ignorant because I don't understand math. Guess that is why I am good at what I do...I understand that not everyone knows or even WANTS to know what I know about technology. Some people you just have to work with and some you just do it for them.

by master3bs

People have brought me their computers to work on several times. No matter how many times and ways I've explained that I don't need their monitors, many of them have insisted on bringing them anyway, "just in case."

Yesterday I connected a user's new laptop to the network and she insisted on dropping off her old laptop too, "just in case."

by geekchic

user panicked and called and demanded that someone come over right away as their printer wasn't working and there was a document that they needed RIGHT NOW for a very important meeting!

Sent a tech over and he was back in about 3 minutes. When I asked what was wrong with the printer, he said..."she forgot to click print".

by too old for it

Sometimes I think people get so caught up in thebusiness aspects of their job that they forget that tech is what makes things actually work.

by cheesel

Users used to call me panicked because they could not print. Well, gee, logging into the network would help if you wanna print to a networked printer!

by the_fixer

It's not a matter of the process that was the complaint. Questioning a process is good. It's just having someone look over your shoulder and critique how your are trouble-shooting an issue. I am trying to resolve the issue for the user and do it correctly. If I am running diagnostics on a laptop and he is questioning why I would do that because they did not do that at his last job, then I have an issue with it.

You're right on about evaluating a process and being able to make changes to make it better. Too many times departments get locked in to doing things a certain way and can't seem to get out of a rut. I'm always open to a suggestion.

by jamesrl

It depends on how he was doing it of course. I would always suggest that the discussion come after the issue is resolved - over your shoulder while you are working frankly sucks.

James

by b.brodie

If he is an educated guy, then treat him as such.
Just tell him that I have no idea why no one at the last company did not do it, as any engineer worth his weight in silicon chips would have done this as SOP.
Then re-assure him, and say "at least you are here now, so we can look after your equipment properly"

Imagine the frustration at his next job when the lesser techie forgets the basic checks :)

by computeach247

Apparently you are unfamiliar with the know-it-all - always right types, and how you are always doing it wrong. You can?t even explain it to them because they don?t want to hear ?tech talk? as mentioned earlier they get that glazed look and you realize you are talking to yourself.

The monitor story isn?t as funny as I would like it to be as I deal with such people and these types of situations on a daily basis.
Just the other day several employees were switching desks. When trying to get people to move only their Computer box and leave the mouse, keyboard, & monitor, 1 out of around 7 were able to accomplish this. In addition 2 or 3 couldn?t figure out how to attach the color coded mouse, keyboard, & monitor!

by jamesrl

...somehow I think you may be incorrect with your assumption. I started in computers over 20 years ago. Have worked alot of places, met a lot of types of people.

Really two issues here - the know it alls and the computer illiterates/incapables.

I ignore know it alls. Except if they work for me, then I give them a hard time. I may not have the experience they do, but frankly, they should explain it to me. I'm not dumb, and if they have a good argument for something, make it. The know it alls in other groups, well sometimes you have to put up with stuff. Thats life. But I chose not to let it get to me. I'm sure some people think I am one of those types on occasion.

The computer illiterates well, if everyone was as good as you, you wouldn't have a job would you? I used to do the moves myself, after everyone leaves, and test everything to make sure it worked, so that I could come in the next day confident that they wouldn't be giving me a bunch of calls.

While using a computer is pretty much standard in most office jobs, it would be a waste of time and money to get everyone certified at an MCP level or somethign equivalent. I don't mind that they don't know, I don't know everything there is to know about accounting, but I can manage a multi-million dollar budget thanks. I don't have to know everything, I have to know enough. Same with your users - I'd rather have a sales person closing deals and paying my salary than have them trying to fix some little thing on their laptop.

James

by Former member

How much is enough? If it's simple data entry, all that's required is a knowledge of where the keys are on the keyboard. If you're doing form letters, publications and brochures for your company, you'd better know the difference between .GIF and JPG., as well has how to set up columns in whatever wordprocessor ir DTP package you use.

by old guy

I was just curious when Ldyosng asked if he cooked. I'm great with electronics/computers/networks and I love to cook--grilling and kitchen; at least my wife and kids like my cooking. I don't think I could take the back wall out of my house and rebuild it, though.

It is a little disconcerting to hear that a man can't figure out a little remote control. Just thought it was amusing.

by geekchic

but he has so many other things that he is really, really good at so working the DVD/VHS/TV remote(s) is just a tiny little inconvenience. He is a pretty handy guy to have around...I think I will keep him. Already got him pretty well trained after being married almost 26 years!

by b.brodie

If you can wait until your wife gets home, who you know will fix it at the push of a button, why press the other 300 and possibly make it worse?

The games on, he can see the score, but cant hear the commentary, so what? Why look at 300 buttons and miss the play?

If you had termites, would you call some one in?

Some would argue that a real man will replace his own wall.

Sounds like a perfect match, you cant design that kind of compatibility.

:)

by old guy

I'm just glad to find out that we really don't have fit THE mold afterall...

I think my wife is still trying to get me trained (you know, hard to teach an old dog) and we have our 30th next year.

Congrats on the 26!

by gsg

I wasn't a little old lady, but after learning to use a computer completely through DOS commands and then working at a place that used dumb terminals, I had issues with the mouse. It got so bad that a frustrated IT person told me this, word for word, "You are too stupid to learn this, you should just go back to filing 8 hours a day." Two years later, I'm in IT, have my MCP, and am a project leader, system administrator, and whatever else. I later told him that he had totally crushed me and that I had made the decision never to do that to anyone else. I challenge an IT person who's never done something before, to do a new task perfectly, the first time, after only 5-10 minutes of training, or even 8 hours of training.

I had a nurse practically in tears over learning the new online charting system. Her comment was that she didn't know how I could be so smart and do that "computer stuff". I turned it around and told her that I didn't know how she could be so smart and do all that medical and nursing stuff. It's just what we are used to, so we should be kind, and have patience.

by old guy

I hate that you had to be put through that from such an idiot but I'm glad you used it to your benefit! It's not hard to be kind no matter who the are or where they are. You're right it's what we're used to and when teaching most people something new you have to take them at their pace. Wooowho for you!

by gpratt

We all have horror stories, but there are "some" users who just deserve, no DEMAND to be treated that way. I was the IT Director (basically fancy title for the guy did everything and anything with no help at all) for a company with 150 workstations, 200 users, and 12 servers and no additional IT personnel. We had a qualtiy assurance manager who refused to do even the most basic of user tasks. We had a change in configuration that required users to re-map a drive, I sent an e-mail complete with step-by-step instructions with screen shots for every single step. Everyone from the President and the CEO on down followed the instructions and had no issue with them EXCEPT the prima donna who REFUSED to do it. Her response: "I didn't have to do this at my last job, I don't know how, and you WILL do it for me!!"

I patiently explained to her that due to personnel limitations, I could not do this for everyone, and that even upper level management had been able to do this, and she needed to follow the instructions in the e-mail. She pitched a fit, at which time I did tell her that part of her job as the Q.A. manager was to understand basic windows tasks and if she couldn't then she had no place in that position.

Of course she immediately went to my boss the CEO and complained that I had been rude to her! As far as I was concerned, she was rude to me in not even attempting to follow the instructions that I had painstakingly assembled in order to facilitate the transition. Needless to say she lost the fight and didn't last long.

There are "some" users who deserve to be treated as they treat others. She got what she deserved.

by ijusth1

My wife is a nurse and I always tell her that if I screw up I can reboot or restore from tape but if she screws up people die! It is all a matter of perspective.

by peter.summersgill

OK. I feel competent to comment on this one. I'm very old (for a PC support person) - 50+. I messed up in my first encounters with mouses. It was on a Reuter Dealing System in the early 80s. I used my mouse upside down (with the wire under my wrist, not with the ball on top) for months. It actually seemed quite reasonable to work in "mirror image" and remember, back then a mouse wasn't the sleek, ergodynamic little marvel it is now, they were something akin to a cigarette packet. Additionally - nobody advised me I was doing it wrong - they didn't know any better either!
Moving on to cases like were brought up here - it's the unwillingness for users to take any ownership or responsibility for their problems which really gets me. The ones who freeze and flutter their fingers because someone moved their mouse to the left hand side of the keyboard (Yes!!!) The ones who can't plug their PC in when the cleaners have unplugged it. The ones who refuse to take advantage of training opportunities offered. The ones who have absolutely no interest in the PC upon which they rely to perform their job function.
Working on a busy helpdesk, it might be nice to think of spending all the time it takes to calm a user down when you replace her screen - but when you have 8 minutes to do it (including trolleying to and fro and replacing all their furry animals, photographs and post-it notes) it's a luxury you can't afford.

by darren

when you are in the IT business and see a total unwillingness to LEARN one can get pretty annoyed. I totally understand what you are saying and agree all the way, but there are moments in a techies life when....

But I think we all aught to take your words to heart and cut the poor IT client a break. I too have been on the other end.

by ryoung2

I had a problem with a twinax attached printer. It would not communicate with the computer. No lights, nothing. I even checked the fuse and the socket the cord was plugged in to at the wall. Finally, I called for service. The person arrived plugged the other end of the power cord into the printer and left me blushing beside a user who said nothing. She just started printing the reports she needed.

by old guy

My first rule, which I keep forgetting somehow, is to always check the connection first.

by kerry_miller

...an "s"--the same "s" that The Old Guy (I have to call him The Other Old Guy) forgot. He (she?) checked the "connection"--but there should have been an "s" on the end...
;-)

by b.brodie

Yeah, but I bet that when she gathers round the coffee machine, it is a nice story to tell.

I say praise the little old ladies.

First thing I do at a client, is befriend these kinds of people, you might not believe it, but they normally run the show.

Case in point, a client who is an international fashion house. How does the "boss" read his emails?
His assistant prints them off, and clips them to his clipboard :)

Fair dues, he ordered a laptop, and is trying to get to grips with the basics, but why?

If I were him, I wouldn't care, I would pay people around me who did not have what it takes to schmooze some of the most glamorous people in the world.

Everyone has their weaknesses, and it appears that tolerance is the weakness of those with technical skills ;)

by Member 28898618

yea, its rocket science to work a 50 button satellite tv control. talk about your stereotypes. most women i have known dont cook, i cook, one reason is because my wives didnt. i can also build houses, rebuild engines, and do techie work, plus work vcrs and other gadgets, even hand built my own stereo amps from time to time. but i dont sew. and i didnt change diapers. my wives were all college educated, had careers of their own. when the time came, we had nannies, and noone expected them to clean the house or do the laundry. i do my own laundry, always have. guess that makes me a what? half and half?

by dasdbobb

I have been a chef for 30+ years and love all phases of the kitchen. I had to give up commercial cooking due to artherites in my hips. Now I sell hardware and deal with "it directors" who can't tell the differance between a LAN and a SAN all day long. Sometimes they even call and ask if i know how to make Alfredo sauce. At least when I am smoking a slab of ribs,(even in the winter, I'm in cleveland) or doing a suckling pig in the smoker or cooking a simple dinner for my wife after Bimgo, I know there are people that that can't do this.

by wizardofj

When I was working for a uppie-yuppie company, all the females were required to wear skirts and heels ( and this was in the 1990's!) - but since I had gone to the CEO's office to work on his computer - crawling around under the desk and unplugging, etc. - they gave me the freedom to wear non-bluejean slacks - Dockers worked just fine!

by geeksquad

I bet we all have funny stories..... here's one.

A older lady from another office said "I have a problem, the fax will not work" I replied " okay what's wrong with it?" she said, "there's no paper left...do you think you can fax some over to me?" I quickly said okay, she's probably still waiting for the paper today!!!!

by rhodamyster

I took about 4 days off in August to visit my sister. (About 6 hours from home.)
You wouldn't believe the workload I had before leaving.
My boss needed me during those 4 days ? she had the nerve to call my husband at home, get my sisters phone number & asked me if I had access to my computer files because she needed a company photo emailed to a client.
And of course when I told her I could get the photo to her ? she requested some other things that she needed.
She & my co-workers cannot even email photos.

by techrep10

The cause was probably simple ignorance, but the Apple iMac does have the entire system build into the LCD display. No desktop or tower box...

by geekchic

no computer, not DVD, no VCR...just a TV. With "rabbit ears". Just local fuzzy channels...

by jzsdii

and said there was a bug in her keyboard. A little puzzled, I concluded she (a non-techie) was unfamiliar with the jargon and I went to try to discover what was really wrong. My jaw probably dropped when I saw a small beetle scuttling between the keys. Being a conscientious, industrious techie, I promptly said, I'm not responsible for that kind of bug!". After the boo's died down, I took the keyboard apart and consigned the offender to its particular Valhalla.

by chesswidow

Would you have rather had her call and tell you that her keyboard was broken? LOL I once say someone banging their keyboard on their desk(keys facing desk) to dislodge the crumbs in it. Then they wondered why a couple of their keys came off! I did introduce him to the canned air to blow it out in the future. ;)

by falling burrito brother

My very first support call as an IT helpdesk consultant was "...I can't find the light switch in my office. Can you help me?". Loved it then, still love it now.

by mjd420nova

I encountered a similar situation and came up with a quick and simple cure. I set the new flat screen monitor on her desk(it was a she)
and powered it up, then asked her to bring up what she felt was her most important program
on the old screen. I then switched the cables
to the new display and her eyes lit up, not only was her data intact, but she could use a larger
format(more columns and cells on screen) and see more data displayed and still read it. Mission
accomplished.

by hetzel

The Air Force once conducted an experiment.

They took six monkeys and placed them into a cage with a ladder in the middle.

After a few days, a banana was placed above the ladder.

One brave monkey went up the ladder and grabbed the banana. When he grabbed it, the rest of the monkeys received an electrical shock.

After 5 days, 5 bananas, and 5 shocks, the monkeys quit going up the ladder.

The researchers then swapped one monkey out with a fresh ignorant monkey. The banana appeared and when he started to go up the ladder, the other monkeys beat the hell out of him.

After 3 days of this, the new monkey quit trying to go up the ladder.

Another monkey was swapped out, and another until none of the original monkeys were left.

The electrical shock equipment was removed but the monkeys still would not go up the ladder even though they had no idea why other than they would get beat up by the others if they tried. If another monkey tried, they'd help beat 'em up.

Hence the phrase, ?I dunno, but that's they way we always done it.?

by swgoldwire2546

Gee, whitakers! I am sorry that I have busted your bubble. I was just being blunt about a situation where one just does not comprehend nor want to comprehend the changes in technology.

-swg

by jdclyde

after your bumpy start to your postings, you would look down on other people for this?

"Change is good for the well adjusted (bad for those who are just plain ignorant)."

Is change good for you?

by jdclyde

There has been more than one time that a shop gets broken into and the thiefs steal the monitors only, not realizing that the value is in the "big white box" it was plugged into.

Uninformed users are common. Go easy on them because it is the fact that they are so uninformed that keeps you employeed.

We all have our pet "dumb user" stories, but like a dumb relative you have to love them anyways! ;\

by old guy

Geekchic--right on! (oops, I guess that shows my age) That's the reason teams work (at least in most instances) because we can fill in with each other's abilities.

by geekchic

just when you think they can't come up with any new surprises. Sunday morning my husband asked me what I wanted for breakfast and I said "banana nut pancakes from IHOP". He said well, we've got bananas and the pecans left over from your work party, I will see if I can make them...and he did!! And oh they were so good! What a man!!!! I think I'll keep him!

by attackcomputerwhiz

Last week, one of my end users had a mouse go bad, so I replaced it with a basic optical mouse that was dual-colored and a little sleeker. Next thing I know, every other person in the office was demanding I give them a pretty mouse, too. EEEEEEK!

Same with CPUs. One gets a hardware upgrade, they all want it. I supposed I should be happy that they pay attention to their equipment, but then I still get the ones that send their print jobs to a printer elsewhere in the building and then complain it didn't print. (That happens a lot since there are 20 printers in the building.)

Then there's my favorite--"How come I can't save my stuff on this computer?" when they are working on a thin client box with no storage capacity. And we're talking people that have been around for years who know they shouldn't be creating spreadsheets on the equivalent of WebTV!