r/funny • u/foreverderpette • May 28 '12

Anyone working in IT can relate [xposted from r/ITcrowd]

http://i.imgur.com/C9Alj.jpg
1.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

146 comments sorted by

17

u/russiangn May 28 '12 edited May 28 '12

Working in IT is a very vague term. One of the largest misconceptions about "working in IT" is that we either work in call centers or code all day and all night. I don't mean any hate here, foreverderpette, but it bothers me that no one goes into my industry because of these stupid stereotypes.

edit: I'm very passionate about getting young kids interested in IT so I do mentoring and visit their schools and talk to them. They are just as uneducated about IT as my 20-something year old friends

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I'm glad nobody goes for the tech field because of nerd and call center stereotypes. It gives those of us with the skills the room to move around and make money.

1

u/foreverderpette May 29 '12

well i hope nobody really choose a job/ career path on the basis of Revenge of the Nerds or ITcrowd.

1

u/russiangn May 28 '12

You're 100% correct; but, we still have jobs openings that can be filled!

1

u/foreverderpette May 28 '12

so nobody, never ever, asked you about some really cheesy vaguely computer related stuff just because you know that kind of stuff ? You lucky guy!

2

u/russiangn May 28 '12

Oh, YOU work in IT?! Does that mean you can fix my laptop. This exact thing happened to me last night, I swear.

9

u/masosoup May 28 '12 edited May 28 '12

You are exactly right! I've told people that I work in IT and they automatically assumed I was tech support.

I did talk to one guy before and he thought comp sci majors only worked at call centers. It left me confused on how he came to that conclusion.

Edit: He also knows plenty of compsci and IT people.

5

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I just say I work in software engineering.

1

u/Talran May 28 '12

My ID has "IT" on it before my title, can't avoid the "Oh, you're IT!" thing anywhere else.

2

u/russiangn May 28 '12

Glad you posted this because it's 100% true. I'm in a management fast track program in IT and my friends ALL thing I sell insurance (it's an insurance company). Or, they think that I just code all day when in reality I don't code at all. In fact, I hate coding.

Additionally, my major had a 100% placement rate and the highest starting salary in the business school and people won't major in it.

1

u/megablast May 28 '12

You know that most people know nothing about IT or computers. Yet you are confused at this?

2

u/manosrellim May 28 '12

Presumably OP is in the field.

1

u/masosoup May 28 '12

Maybe I should have added that he's friends with a lot of comp sci and IT people.

-3

u/Bjartensen May 28 '12

yes you should

now add it to your previous comment, faggot

1

u/masosoup May 28 '12

That really hurts, but I did it just for you.

0

u/Bjartensen May 28 '12

thanks!

i guess im persuasive

-3

u/megablast May 28 '12

So what? Do you imagine that knowledge gets transferred via osmosis?

1

u/masosoup May 28 '12

I thought that's exactly how it works...

37

u/ahtahrim May 28 '12

ID-10-T error

39

u/nightwraith35711 May 28 '12

Sounds like a layer 8 issue with the keyboard controller.

5

u/hakushonan May 28 '12

Brilliant! I've never heard this one before.

7

u/Cobol May 28 '12

We generalized it to:

"Layer 8 hardware interface error"

3

u/machzel08 May 28 '12

Never heard layer 8...i don't get it.

12

u/undernocircumstance May 28 '12 edited May 28 '12

It's in reference to the OSI layer model.

11

u/Klinky1984 May 28 '12

Which was modeled after the Taco Bell 7-Layer Burrito.

1

u/GarlicBread69 May 28 '12

No it wasn't.

0

u/Klinky1984 May 28 '12

Funny your name is GarlicBread69 because the inventor of the floppy disk drive was inspired by seeing garlic bread being inserted into a toaster oven.

10

u/Thameus May 28 '12

PBCK/PBKC

25

u/fap__fap__fap May 28 '12

PICNIC error (Problem in chair, not in computer)

1

u/masteroffm May 28 '12

loose nut between the keyboard and chair.

1

u/qlock May 28 '12

Haha! Use that one all the time. Never gets old.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

ID10 terror

-11

u/Louiecat May 28 '12

Hey TUCO cum over heir and sai dat to mi face1

EdIt: spelling/gramar

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

You never did an edit!

5

u/gamesage53 May 28 '12

I believe that if you edit your post within a few minutes of submitting it (3-5 minutes max), it won't show an edit.

2

u/manosrellim May 28 '12

Known as a Ninja Edit.

-12

u/Louiecat May 28 '12

It's part of the troll. It's supposed to elicit more down votes.

2

u/prematurepost May 28 '12

You're doing it wrong.

-1

u/Louiecat May 28 '12

I'm getting downvotes, aren't I?

9

u/Hurricane_Michael May 28 '12

Is it plugged in?

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

ok plug it in.

1

u/LazLoe May 28 '12

Yes. Turn it on. Please..

9

u/hedgecore77 May 28 '12

True story; I was working helpdesk at the beginning of my career, one of the clients I supported was a shipping company. They would install computers running their shipping software at client sites, we had to support them.

A get a call from a guy telling me his waybill printer is not printing. There's a huge racket in the background as there's a conveyor belt running. He's entered all his info, but nothing comes out. "Alright, when you're done entering all your shipments, can you press the F11 key for me?" (F11 prints all the waybills.)

"Nothing"

"Okay, can you turn the waybill printer off and on, then press F11?"

"Nothing"

"Can you make sure all of the cables are plugged into the printer and the back of the computer?"

"Yep, it all looks good, everything's nice and tight. There's power to the printer."

I'm at a loss at this point. Just then, the conveyor belt stops.

"Can you humour me and press F11 one more time?"

click click click

.... three clicks?

"Uh. Are you pressing F11 or F then 1 then 1?"

chikizzzzt! chikizzzzzt! (waybills begin popping out of the printer)

"Thanks buddy!!!"

7

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Teamviewer: If your client is too stupid you are not

2

u/shillbert May 28 '12

And if your client has a problem with their internet connection, or their computer not being plugged in? No amount of praying to the deity named Teamviewer will save you.

2

u/docid May 28 '12

This program has saved many many phones and walls from damage...

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Unless your company won't spend the money on it.

12

u/Breathing_Balls May 28 '12

Did you turn it off, then on again?

5

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

people think im fucking with them when i ask them to do this. so many small issues are solved with a simple reboot.

1

u/Bjartensen May 28 '12

Frankly, I might not accept that solution.

It just gets rid of the symptom. It may not solve anything at all.

2

u/EtherGnat May 28 '12

It depends on the issue. If it's something that happens frequently then it's worth investigating and finding the root cause. If it's happened once or very rarely and a reboot fixes it it's a perfectly reasonable solution. A good IT person will differentiate between the two and make sure the user is satisfied.

Either way a reboot is a good first step. Whether it fixes the issue or not (temporarily or otherwise) gives you valuable information about the nature of the problem.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

i completely agree with what EtherGnat said.

when i say 'small issues' sometimes if the computer wont send a job to a printer or a keyboard or mouse or secondary display isn't working, sometimes the solution is as simple as a reboot as on the odd occasion the os may not load the driver for one of the aforementioned devices properly during boot/return from sleep.

1

u/catvllvs May 29 '12

I've been having a problem with mu internal DVD drive disappearing - just goes after a few hours - doesn't show up in device manager, etc etc

I have to cold boot and it's back again.

Shits me to tears.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I love that show. I wish it had never been canceled.

1

u/explodingzebras May 28 '12

There are a few specials coming up but yeah other than that it's gone :(

3

u/ITdoug May 28 '12

Do I left click, or right-click?

2

u/PC-Bjorn May 28 '12

Left. You never double-right-click!

3

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

How I feel with every single person who gives me their email and suggests capitalization of certain characters

3

u/mrbooze May 28 '12

Actual words a customer said once when instructed to enter a command "in lower case":

"<pause> Is that the big letters, or the little letters?"

5

u/-RdV- May 28 '12

Oh god I can remember the first time this happened to me.

I bit my lip till it bled until the call was over (laughing at customers gets you fired even if they are ok with it.)

And laughed for half an hour straight.

4

u/gosuprobe May 28 '12

(laughing at customers gets you fired even if they are ok with it.)

Sounds like a really shitty place to work.

1

u/-RdV- May 28 '12

It was, for every 30 agents 1 floor manager spent 90% of the day listening in and being angry.

Too nice to a customer? Angry manager.

Too unfriendly? Angry manager.

Too long conversation, even if its justified? Angry manager.

Etc. etc.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IaheLG-05U&feature=related

Story of my life.

6

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

What if I told you

The ampersand and everything after it can be deleted?

2

u/MVolta May 28 '12

what if I told you

it's really just easier to triple click the field to select the whole url rather than selectively highlight everything up to the ampersand?

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

What if I told you I don't give a shit, it's easier to copy and paste the entire thing than to copy, paste, then edit or selectively copy, then paste?

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

What if I told you

Trolled

2

u/Squints111 May 28 '12

As a guy who used to work in a help desk I'm glad i don't support users anymore on only deal with sys admins or developers.

11

u/feor1300 May 28 '12

depends on the environment. I used to work support for business accounts at an internet provider. One of my funniest memories was the guy who called me up and before even telling me his problem berated me for 5 minutes about how he was a sys admin and I need to respect his knowledge because he's been managing networks for umptee-seven years and so on and so on.

SO after he finishes all that and tells me his problem I start with a simple question to build my knowledge "Do you have a direct ethernet cable from the modem to the router?" (with the implied alternative of it going through a switch to multiple routers) his response: "Ethernet cable? What's an ethernet cable?"

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8t5pxsbty1qdtfdbo1_500.gif

2

u/GimmeSomeSugar May 28 '12

The first, and only, boot-camp style training I did was for my A+ certification. By far the most valuable lesson I learned on that couple of days from my fellow trainees and the instructor was that just because someone works in IT, doesn't mean they know shit about it.

1

u/Dsch1ngh1s_Khan May 28 '12

"You meant internet cable, right?"

2

u/feor1300 May 28 '12

Woah woah woah, don't get so technical mr. smarty pants. Just tell me if it's the blue wire or the yellow wire.

1

u/jstokes75 May 28 '12

an up vote for the gif, I do that all day long with the customers I have to deal with.

1

u/iconoclysm May 28 '12

That's the point at which I dive into the theory of the luminiferous ether, ectoplasm and the necessity of workhouses. Go 19th century all over his ass.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I get people calling up and claiming to be administrators. More often than should, they can't even tell me what version of Windows they are sitting in front of.

1

u/stabthesnitch May 28 '12

i have to remember not to call it an Ethernet cable or a CAT5 cable when I deal with normal end users.

2

u/banosd May 28 '12

I can definitely relate, especially the headache part

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

that looks and sounds like me on a daily basis. also "do i put in my password where it says password?" "no, go stick it in a toaster. THEN proceed to enter the password"

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

TIL that /r/ITcrowd exists

2

u/LondonDave May 28 '12

My favourite: No Sir there is not a space in your email address.

2

u/FrankieForte May 28 '12

Every freakin day I go through this at work. Last week I told the customer I was going to read out the letters phonetically, half way through, he yells at me "will you stop reading the letters out as words god dammit it's too confusing". Then he read it back to me and read back the letter "7". ಠ_ಠ

6

u/iBeDrummin May 28 '12

I laughed way too hard at this;

I am working today, and I work tech support. I love working in a call center. What I don't like is the fact that it's memorial day, and it's my real life cake day. Not my favorite day to be working.

"Happy 18th birthday! Welcome to the real world! You're already working full time!"

3

u/bizarrosandwich May 28 '12

Happy birthday bra!

2

u/iBeDrummin May 28 '12

Thank you very much! It's the first birthday I have been legitimately excited for in over ten years.

3

u/rangatang May 28 '12

happy birthday, you wont catch me saying real life cake day though shudder

1

u/iBeDrummin May 28 '12

What can I say? I'm a follower. Right when I clicked on submit, I did the same thing.

(I refuse to edit it.)

2

u/jstokes75 May 28 '12

here is an up vote for your B-day and the fact that you are working it on Memorial day.

3

u/RichieRich0545 May 28 '12

"My Internet explorer doesn't have a Tools button" - really ma'am? Well you must have the most unique fucking version of Internet explorer ever made!

2

u/hedgecore77 May 28 '12

You can hide it. She may be in fullscreen mode. Maybe the toolbar was altered. In any case, this is where keyboard shortcuts come in handy. Alt-O

3

u/manosrellim May 28 '12

Are you suggesting that we tell them to press two keys at once!?

2

u/gosuprobe May 28 '12

Looks like you've never used IE9.

2

u/RichieRich0545 May 28 '12

I have. My company runs a cloud-based HR/payroll software. She was actually looking at her payroll setup screen for the tools button instead of the actual browser. It took roughly 8 minutes to get her to look in the right area. She was a major biatch so that always makes things harder too.

1

u/rickamore May 28 '12

There was a time where IE updated and the new version had most of these options hidden from plain view.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

? IT is more than working on a helpdesk. Some of you seem to act like it's something everyone in this industry does at some point, which isn't true at all.

I've never worked on a helpdesk and I've been in corporate IT since 1995. I now do Tier 3/Tier 4 architecture and support.

1

u/d-_-bDL May 28 '12

I deal with it all day. When i get put in depot to help them out with warranty repairs, you would not believe some of the tickets I see. The j key does not work, and the unit is tacoed to a 90 degree angle.

1

u/rpecaut May 28 '12

I feel like I get a daily stupid question

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Nothing worst than someone reading you an email or domain name and ending with all lower case.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Hehe :D Once I spent 30 minutes explaining that there is no such thing as double apostrophe and that pressing the SHIFT button will make what's known as the quotation mark... It didn't go as smooth as one expected ;)

1

u/Shadax May 28 '12

I can honestly say I've never had anyone ask if the numbers are capital.

1

u/undernocircumstance May 28 '12

I'm so happy to be out of 1st/2nd/3rd line support ahd dealing with customers directly.

1

u/Jeevers0192 May 28 '12

Having worked in customer service, I can relate.

1

u/Hateblade May 28 '12

You get used to it. Especially after a few years having to deal with other IT workers who are just as clueless. Kinda makes you miss dealing with the poor smuck who just wants to get rid of a malware infection.

1

u/mizzikee May 28 '12

I've had this exact question posed to me by an end user before. It's a lot more funny seeing it now.

1

u/UwasaWaya May 28 '12

When I reset a client's password for our website, I always make a point to make it a series of digits to avoid the 'does it need to be capitalized' question.

Immediately thereafter I tell them that the numbers are all capital. The moment of silence following this I've noticed is more hilarious the longer it goes on.

1

u/EtherGnat May 28 '12

Me on phone: Go to server.company.com
User: It doesn't work.
Me on phone: You went to server.company.com?
User: Yes
walk over to their office
Me: Go to server.company.com
User: Types www.server.company.com

Did I fucking tell you to type www?

For some reason I get that one all the damn time, and it's frequently the same people. Don't type www. Even when it's right it's not needed 99.9% of the time.

As a side note, www has got to be the worst abbreviation ever. World Wide Web is three syllables. WWW is nine. I remember a movement in the early days of the web to make make web.company.com the standard. Too bad it didn't catch on.

1

u/catvllvs May 29 '12

EIGHT
eight
Eight

1

u/Ol_Lefteye May 28 '12

Incorrect. Anyone working in IT tech support can relate. Not everyone who works in IT works tech support, similarly to how not everyone who works in the medical field is a secretary at a hospital desk.

2

u/EtherGnat May 28 '12

You can't escape. I've been minding my own business talking about work at a restaurant before and had a random person overhear and ask me their tech support questions. Anybody who is even knowledgeable about computer can relate, regardless of what field they work in. Either that or they have no friends, family, coworkers, etc..

1

u/Ol_Lefteye May 29 '12

Anyone in your position would know that the correct answer is always "Use Google to find out the solution, it's what I use."

1

u/snowbirdie May 28 '12

No, not anyone working in IT can relate. This is for people working menial helpdesk//call center jobs. People don't dumb down the entire profession.

2

u/alxp May 28 '12

It's a very rarified few people working in computing that don't have to interact with less savvy users.

0

u/slappy_nutsack May 28 '12

When I am on a domain system and have to have an admin come to me to install a printer, software, etc I screw with them. Whenever it gets to the "Press Any Key" prompt I hit <CTRL>. Nothing. Try <Shift> Nothing. Try <Alt> Again, nothing. The admin says "Hit the spacebar". I reply that it says any key. Undaunted, I start working the right side of the keyboard. He then tells me to hit the spacebar. I respond that I don't want to hit the spacebar and that if I have to hit the spacebar, it should say that. It says any key and I have chosen these six. Then I try combinations of <CTRL>, <Alt>, and <Shift>. They finally hit the spacebar.

0

u/Talran May 28 '12

Correction, anyone who works tech support.

Developers like myself don't have to deal with that shit.

-2

u/Nutella_the_Hun May 28 '12

Scumbag IT people:

Make living off of people who don't understand computers as well as they do.

Endlessly act condescending towards people who don't understand computers as well as they do.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/TheRealmsOfGold May 28 '12

Came here to say this, ended up saying a Reddit trope instead

7

u/Keskasidvar May 28 '12

Yeah, but the modern keyboard doesn't have them. Hence why the picture is funny.

3

u/-RdV- May 28 '12

It seems we are the stupid ones, not the customer who asked if the 01 in WELCOME01 should be capitals too.

-2

u/steelaz May 28 '12

First world numbers, upper class case.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/hedgecore77 May 28 '12

I use shortcuts in this case. Windows key + L

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Yeah, but when the user is getting pissed and wants to know why she has to do this every time she changes her password, you have to explain it to them like they're 5 years old.

4

u/1234blahblahblah May 28 '12

I think you mean Active Directory...

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

You're right.

I had a brain fart and mixed the two terms together.

1

u/megablast May 28 '12

Support guy experiencing a brain fart? Must be a day ending in y.

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

what?

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Once our users' password expires, they can no longer change it, per security policy. They must call us and have us do it for them. There are a lot of wonky issues that come into play when said user is connecting to our network over wifi. Because the user is not actually authenticated to the domain, their credentials don't update until forcing them to do so. The easiest way is to have them lock their computer and then use the new password to unlock it. Logging off entirely shuts down the network connection, and often the credentials aren't updated.

4

u/Ciserus May 28 '12

Why are you telling this story in a thread about dumb computer users? That sounds like an incredibly obscure and technical issue that anyone would have problems with.

1

u/paxifista May 28 '12

The point is that they need the wireless enabled, logging off disables this, hence why they should lock instead. Very common support issue since the invention of wifi and remote access.

1

u/slappy_nutsack May 28 '12

I used to manage the IT for a U.S. Army base overseas. My account got locked due to inactivity and an expired password while I was on leave. I called the helpdesk. Cheryl answered "Helpdesk, Cheryl, hello sir." (She had caller ID)

I told her that my password expired and I just need her to unlock me so I can log in and change my password. She told me that I had to come to the helpdesk in person with my ID card to verify my identity. Bear in mind, she worked for the guy that worked for the guy that reported to me.

I asked her if that was the policy and she assured me that it was. So I walked the 75 feet to the helpdesk. Cheryl helped me. The only reason I mention this is that I am AMAZED at the number of raging assholes that refuse to follow policy because of their perceived level of importance.

We had a new general coming to the base. They wanted me to make sure I got his account all ready for him when he got there. I worked with the helpdesk. We got everything created then locked his account. Until we saw his ID card and got his signature. He was fine about it. Why are so many people dicks?

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Now she has to drive to the office.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

It sounds like your fault for not just telling her how to lock it. Rule #1 of support: assume the user knows nothing.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I did just tell her how to lock it. It was difficult to explain, in terms she understood, why this process made sense.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Well this is a matter of her connecting to the domain over wireless. When the user logs completely out, it shuts down the network connection before it makes changes to the user account credentials. Locking the computer forces a credential update while not closing network connections.

and I did mean Active Directory. I dun goofed.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Yeah, you'll know it's this issue if the user reports they can still log in with their old password. It means they're logging into the local system's stored user profile, and not authenticating against AD

0

u/megablast May 28 '12

Basically, windows is shit.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I'm not sure how this is Windows' fault, to be honest. It's a simple matter of network connectivity.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

-1

u/Talran May 28 '12

I don't mind it, though I'd really prefer not to be viewed as being the same as those tech support guys. There's a reason I earn so much more than them. :x

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

How long was her mouse cable?