Grumpy Old Techs


I was getting a fair amount of grief for being grumpy toward some of the folk here.

I tried to explain that I have good reason for being that way to people asking for tech support, but my reasoning didnt seem to jibe to their understanding.

If I make my living fixing computers, why alienate the very people who need me?

Ive come to realize, the only people who understand why I do this are the ones who have to go through the soul-numbing experience - so I dialled up Clint on IM to give an answer to this person...

To corroborate, rather.


JPennant: Hey Clint
McClint: yo joe
JPennant: Im gonna ask you this question
McClint: i'm gonna answer the best i can
McClint: answer: 42
JPennant: when people ask you for computer help, do you come off intially as cranky?
JPennant: or grumpy
McClint: sometimes yeah
McClint: depends on who it is

JPennant: why do you think that is

McClint: ummm if someone approaches me to help them and I just know i'm gonna be sucked into a black hole of perpetual support for free (or almost free), then yeah i try to be as grumpy as possible
McClint: that way they will be less likely to want to pull me in again
JPennant: thank you.. this was for someone who wondered why I was being so cranky about this
McClint: i did that with my Dad and his wife. she was hellbent on getting on the internet but i knew for a fact she didn't know how to turn the damn thing on. i was gonna be asked on a daily basis to help them with every little thing
JPennant: keep goin
McClint: I was bitchy and cranky and told them flat out "i will not be here to teach you how to use this thing. I will not be here every other day to fix something you broke. Go to the store NOW and buy books telling you how to operate windows and to explain what the internet is because *I* will not do it"
McClint: and i made sure i was firm about that too so they would get the picture. and it worked.
McClint: they didn't even call me when they downloaded a dozen viruses in email and their system wouldnt even startup :-)
McClint: because they knew I'd be saying "I told ya so" throughout the whole time i worked on it
McClint: Nick Burns, your company's Computer Guy is our idol :-)
JPennant: LoL

JPennant: Thank you. I think he kinda gets it now. He saw me abusing his friends and wondered why I was doin that :-=)
McClint: ahh the uninitiated. it is fun to make fun of them behind their backs
JPennant: heheheh
McClint: but that's our little secret :-)
JPennant: LoL
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