Let me start by saying, I’m not IT. Not even close. I’m a nurse who happens to be fairly computer savvy. I don’t call IT unless I have actually checked all my cables, restarted the computer at least twice, and I do try to keep screenshots of any error messages I generate.
My mom – *sigh* – my mom learned about computers in the 1970s when programming meant taking a stack of punched cards to the computer lab and watching her cry when she hit some infinite loop. Because she has worked with punch cards, she fancies herself a computer programmer and that the system folder is something that she can “rearrange so it makes more sense,” deleting those pesky *.dll files.
But my mom thinks I’m IT. Because I have a computer. And my computer generally works. So my mom calls me and tells me that her new computer’s disk drive is broken. This is a long time ago, when 3.5 floppies were still in use. Anyway, her’s wasn’t working. So I ask her a bunch of questions… and after about 45 minutes get the idea that she put a disk in and it wouldn’t come out. So I told her how to straighten a paper clip and stick it in the tiny hole (another 20 minutes) to eject the stuck disk. To my shock, this doesn’t work.
Turns out, she thought the 3.5 inch drive would pop out with a tray like the CD drive would. She never placed a disk in the computer in the first place.
So, IT guys, when she calls you – and she will because she is convinced that Facebook is a government conspiracy – know that no matter what you tell her, she’s withholding that key piece of info that you need to solve the problem. I generally get out of further tech duties with her by suggesting that she google it. Sorry dudes. Truly.
[Picture Source: heartajack (CC)]