I work at a production company that makes commercials. One of my (many) duties is providing on site troubleshooting and tech support to our staff. I get many calls asking how to fix things, and over the years I have learned that no matter what problem they come to me with, chances are what needs to be done is something completely different. Below is just one small example.

To preface, much of our equipment is based around art creation. So the computers are all pretty fast, all have dual and sometimes triple monitors, and all come with Wacom pads.

So I get a call from one of our staff and it goes something like this:

Staffer: I need a new mouse.

Me: What’s wrong?

Staffer: It’s not letting me move the cursor. It’s broken.

Me: ‘Not letting’ you?

Staffer: It’s jiggling, but it’s not letting me move it. Can you get me a new mouse?

Me: Let me go over there. I want to check it first.

I proceed to go to the floor where the artist’s desk is.

(Elevator music)

Staffer: I need a new mouse ASAP. I have a posting in an hour!

I walked up to the computer and moved the mouse. Sure enough it would “jiggle”, as in it would try to move but would perpetually be pulled back to its original position.

I look behind the computer to check on the mouse connection. Everything is fine.

After I get up from under the desk I take a brief look over the work area and spot the problem.

Me: I’m sorry, but you’re going to feel really stupid right now. No offense.

Staffer: ?

I proceed to pick up the Wacom pen that was laying on top of the Wacom pad, and put it off to the side. I then move the mouse and lo and behold, it is in working condition.

Staffer is torn between thanking me and facepalming himself.

To be fair, nobody is ever a dick about these kinds of things, so while we may laugh at our stupidity at times it’s never with animosity. And from now on, I always check the Wacoms before anything else when someone reports a “broken” mouse.

via: [Reddit\TalesFromTechSupport]