Why are so many IT guys antisocial.

[manning1]

danny.
with greatest respect.
work a few years in an IT department of a major corporation.
preferably in particular work as the front line networking guru
for a company with a massive network strung across the world.
tell me if your sanity remains intact after awhile..lol.

[wreckd]

I work in I.T and maybe its just me, but users can be pretty special themselves. I have many fine examples, but one that springs to mind happened last week.

User phones up

User - " Hi my computer is really slow, i have been trying to have this fixed for weeks and you guys don't seem to want to help, or just don't know what to do. Can I speak to someone in charge?"

I'm thinking to myself, I have no idea who you are, my boss will kick my arse if I transfer someone like you to him...I'll get more info and try to be helpful.

Me - "Before I transfer you, I’d like to see if I can get some more information. Is it slow right now, is it slow in all programs?"

User - "Yes, its so slow it seems like it’s not even working. After I push enter a bunch of times it will eventually load. You need to fix this NOW."

thinking...load what? Ok, screw this, I’m just going to dial in so I don't have to talk to your rude arse

Me - "Ok, let me have look - I'll just dial in"

Looking around, everything is fine, cpu usage low, 2gb of ram, 15% in use, I open a bunch of programs that all load in a reasonable time frame. I anticipate that the user won't like to hear this, so instead I say

Me - "I can't seem to replicate the issue, could you drop your computer down to I.T and i'll give you a temporary machine to use in the meantime?"

User - "Fine, but this had better be fixed today."


Had a look at the PC, it ran fine. Couldn't fault it. Thinking it might have been a windows update that got sent out via the update server. She calls back up minutes later absolutely fuming, yelling and screaming. The computer we gave her is also slow. My boss jumps on and she brings the computer back down, we give her a new PC we were building for someone else just to shut her up.

She calls back and says this one is just as slow. I reluctantly dial in and ask her to again go through exactly what she is doing

User - "see when I click the program it just doesn't even seem to load"

Me - "um its not highlighted"

User - "Well i'm clicking it"

Turns out her left mouse button was broken and she was clicking thinking it was loading and taking a long time.

Yes that was worth typing out. That is most retarded thing i have witnessed in a long long time.

[Mylithra]

Originally Posted by wreckd

I work in I.T and maybe its just me, but users can be pretty special themselves. I have many fine examples, but one that springs to mind happened last week.

User phones up

User - " Hi my computer is really slow, i have been trying to have this fixed for weeks and you guys don't seem to want to help, or just don't know what to do. Can I speak to someone in charge?"

I'm thinking to myself, I have no idea who you are, my boss will kick my arse if I transfer someone like you to him...I'll get more info and try to be helpful.

Me - "Before I transfer you, I’d like to see if I can get some more information. Is it slow right now, is it slow in all programs?"

User - "Yes, its so slow it seems like it’s not even working. After I push enter a bunch of times it will eventually load. You need to fix this NOW."

thinking...load what? Ok, screw this, I’m just going to dial in so I don't have to talk to your rude arse

Me - "Ok, let me have look - I'll just dial in"

Looking around, everything is fine, cpu usage low, 2gb of ram, 15% in use, I open a bunch of programs that all load in a reasonable time frame. I anticipate that the user won't like to hear this, so instead I say

Me - "I can't seem to replicate the issue, could you drop your computer down to I.T and i'll give you a temporary machine to use in the meantime?"

User - "Fine, but this had better be fixed today."


Had a look at the PC, it ran fine. Couldn't fault it. Thinking it might have been a windows update that got sent out via the update server. She calls back up minutes later absolutely fuming, yelling and screaming. The computer we gave her is also slow. My boss jumps on and she brings the computer back down, we give her a new PC we were building for someone else just to shut her up.

She calls back and says this one is just as slow. I reluctantly dial in and ask her to again go through exactly what she is doing

User - "see when I click the program it just doesn't even seem to load"

Me - "um its not highlighted"

User - "Well i'm clicking it"

Turns out her left mouse button was broken and she was clicking thinking it was loading and taking a long time.

Yes that was worth typing out. That is most retarded thing i have witnessed in a long long time.

Should have told her she needed a new mouse pad. :)

[KingDaddyO]

Ha ... good one, a picture's worth a thousand words.

Here's an example from the Jurassic period of IT (early 80's) but still valid when diagnosing a verbal problem description.

Gal calls from major defense contractor, can't read the floppy disc (they were 8" back then!). I show up, lo & behold - all is well, we can read everything in sight. I ask to see the discs and they all appear fine. I clean and replace the consumables on the drive (drives were repaired in the field back then). For good measure I also speak with a few other users just to be thorough. No one else has had any problems. Call is closed.

A few days go by and the same problem is called in again - I ask her over the phone to inspect the disc she's having a problem with, and to try a few other discs. Again, there's nothing obvious that stands out, in fact, she is now able to read the disc that she couldn't a short while ago. So it appears to be an intermittent drive failure. I order a replacement and go out and replace the drive.

Next day, she calls again. Repeat as above: inspect discs, try others, now it's fine. I ask her to keep a log of her usage, which disc(s) are failing, etc. She is frustrated but is willing to play along. We continue to play cat & mouse for another few days until finally, I am onsite the next time it occurs. She comes tearing down the hallway, yelling my name and repeating "See, I told you" (although in a very nice way). I get to the workstation and yep - we can't read the disc. So the disc is ejected and there it is: a diskette label (with her handwriting ) had been applied to the disc, with just the tiniest bit of label overhanging the edge of the disc's protective cover. So combined with the minute amount of 'slop' that was designed into the protective outer cover sleeve, this would intermittently place the label in the path of the cutout, for the spinning disc's sector hole sensor.

BTW - I didn't need to say anything - the look on her face when she saw the label said it all.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Loud Noises

uh, maybe because IT is far more than maintenance, and for the most part "maintenance men" don't catch half the shit people in IT do.

uh, maybe that's just your opinion?

I've heard of maintenance guys dragged out of bed to the studio to fix a pilot-error problem, and I've seen IT guys fix genuine problems for intelligent appreciative users.
It takes years to actually become a good maintenance engineer - and that dismissive statement is quite frankly insulting to all the good techs out there - personality issues aside.

So unless you can actually back it up with proveable facts, maybe you could refrain from throwing insults in future, just because someone has a slightly different take on something to you.

[Seifer]

"user error"

that is the only problem any IT person will ever face

[BeerHunter]

ya, it is usually

PEBKAC = problem exists between keyboard and chair

or

PICNIC = problem in chair not in computer

[Chess King]

Originally Posted by Mylithra

1. The constant badgering to fix something for someone for free the moment they find out I'm good at this. I mean, You meet a doctor when you're out and about then find out they're a doctor and say "Oh BTW, I have this problem..." I do this for 12 hours a day, 48 hours a week. The last thing I want to do when I get done working is to be stopped when I'm on my own personal time and work some more.

I feel you on this one, hella annoying. I've always been the "computer guy" and people love to try and take advantage of that. I've just stopped helping people with their problems all together though, and I never let anyone new I meet know that I know anything about computers.

[CDS]

Originally Posted by dannygold

Don't get me wrong... I loathe the human race as much as the next guy, but I can, you know, carry on a conversation if I need to. Seems like a lot of IT guys CANNOT. Not all, but most maybe?

Me: Oh, by the way I think this P-RAM battery might be dead, the clock keeps reverting back to 1969.

Him: Adjusts his glasses staring at me as if I'd just said "I'm going to fly to mars tonight on butterfly wings, care to join me". Says NOTHING. Very disconcerting.

Or an IT guy walks in to a crowded room with people working, fixes something and slinks out. No "Say, mind if I have a look see at this problem".

Astburgers Syndrome? Anyone care to share similar experiences or tell me I'm wrong??

This is a good thread, thanks for making it...

I am very antisocial, to the point it sickens me...

My mother just told me yesterday "The only time we get to talk long is when I have a computer problem".. I know when she passes away one day I am going to regret not taking time out from my "lifes work" to talk to my loved ones more...

I find I only like talking to people that share similar technical interest and have a problem for me to solve... or, I think I get enjoyment out of being helpful about technical issues or problem solving.... It's what I'm good at.

I don't like going out and socially being around "normal people" and the more deep I get in invention, the worst it gets.. I just feel like I can no longer relate to people at times... Maybe I am a weirdo on the brink of pure genius (or insanity).. I am praying I don't turn out to be one of those people walking down the street talking to themselves...

I have caught myself thinking out loud many times... figuring out application design issues, database configurations, TCP upload/download calculations, it's to the point I don't need a TV.. I can sit and "think" for 10 hours straight and formulate 10 different ways to possibly change the world through technology...

I think many IT guys suffer with this thought pattern, so many times we cant relate to a normal conversation no more because whats on our minds at times are likely not in the interest of 99.8% of the public...

When you go a bit deeper and sacrifice much of your life to gain knowledge, you wake up one day realizing that your 20's is a blur and whatever technical god you become in your 30's don't matter because some stupid "idiot" that can't connect their laptop to a wifi connection is your boss and you get to work around all the so-called "cool people" as they lavish in the glee of ignorance while treating the IT guy like some type of underpaid flunkie...

So why deal with people socially? Why should an IT guy dumb down their perspective through years of study and discipline just so some lucky clock watching slacker can feel smart that they "hangin a convo with the IT guy".

I try my best to be patient and help people that are genuinely looking for knowledge and never forget that we all start from somewhere..

The best way to understand the communication gap:

An IT guy around common computer users is like an astronaut in a room full of helicopter pilots.

[Chess King]

Being a IT guy and doing support is the bottom. It's like being an intern at a studio, but more pay and less inspiring/interesting.

Support is the low of the low... so yeah, if you've spent years gaining knowledge, deepening yourself in certain subjects, you should definitely not be doing support shit.

[rectifier]

Originally Posted by Chess King

Being a IT guy and doing support is the bottom. It's like being an intern at a studio, but more pay and less inspiring/interesting.

Support is the low of the low... so yeah, if you've spent years gaining knowledge, deepening yourself in certain subjects, you should definitely not be doing support shit.

Sadly very correct.

[KingDaddyO]

An IT guy around common computer users is like an astronaut in a room full of helicopter pilots.

Can't say I've heard that one before. Good analogy.

[bcgood]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw

[manning1]

Chess King
i hear you.. re not being appreciated/taken advantage of.
and ive helped my share of doctors..lol.
but when i started decades ago we all took oaths to help folks.
so i do what i can.
and occasionally in the process one gets thanks.
one recent person i helped in his biz actually went out of his way to insist he buy
me a present. over my objections.
its like anything...there are always nice people around.
all it reflects is the way the world is.
some will use you if they can to the max n abuse you,
and others are total sweetheart nice people.

[wreckd]

How to Please Your I.T. Department
----
1.. When you call us to have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under half a ton of postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, bowling trophies and children’s art. We don’t have a life, and we find it deeply moving to catch a fleeting glimpse of yours.
2.. Don’t write anything down. Ever. We can play back the error messages from here.
3.. When an I.T. person says he’s coming right over, go for coffee. That way you won’t be there when we need your password. It’s nothing for us to remember 700 screen saver passwords.
4.. When you call the help desk, state what you want, not what’s keeping you from getting it. We don’t need to know that you can’t get into your mail because your computer won’t power on at all.
5.. When I.T. support sends you an E-Mail with high importance, delete it at once. We’re just testing.
6.. When an I.T. person is eating lunch at his desk, walk right in and spill your guts right out. We exist only to serve.
7.. Send urgent email all in uppercase. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery.
8.. When the microwave doesn’t work, call computer support. There’s electronics in it.
9.. When something’s wrong with your home PC, dump it on an I.T. person’s chair with no name, no phone number and no description of the problem. We love a puzzle.
10.. When an I.T. person tells you that computer screens don’t have cartridges in them, argue. We love a good argument.
11.. When an I.T. person tells you that he’ll be there shortly, reply in a scathing tone of voice: “And just how many weeks do you mean by shortly?” That motivates us.
12.. When the printer won’t print, re-send the job at least 20 times. Print jobs frequently get sucked into black holes.
13.. When the printer still won’t print after 20 tries, send the job to all 68 printers in the company. One of them is bound to work.
14.. Don’t learn the proper term for anything technical. We know exactly what you mean by “My thingy blew up”.
15.. Don’t use on-line help. On-line help is for wimps.

[Mylithra]

Originally Posted by Chess King

I feel you on this one, hella annoying. I've always been the "computer guy" and people love to try and take advantage of that. I've just stopped helping people with their problems all together though, and I never let anyone new I meet know that I know anything about computers.

Unfortunately, I've pretty much started doing the same thing. I kept getting inundated with problem so I just started playing dumb, even though when I overhear some of the computer advice thats given out, It makes me cringe.

To those of you who aren't IT guys:

Most of the people who hang out here are really good at something musically related, whether it be playing an instrument or working a board. I've been playing guitar for over 20 years now and frequently get asked by those who watch me play to teach them something, thinking that within a few months they'll be able to play like me, even when I tell them it doesn't really work that way. I'm sure most of you have some story like that.
Remember while you were mixing that killer new track and some guys ends up asking you how did you learn to do all this, wants to learn, then expects to be at least as good as you within an unreasonable amount of time?
Its all the same type of thing, but while not everyone has an interest in learning to play an instrument or how to mix a quality album, almost everyone has a computer.

[Loud Noises]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

uh, maybe that's just your opinion?

I've heard of maintenance guys dragged out of bed to the studio to fix a pilot-error problem, and I've seen IT guys fix genuine problems for intelligent appreciative users.
It takes years to actually become a good maintenance engineer - and that dismissive statement is quite frankly insulting to all the good techs out there - personality issues aside.

So unless you can actually back it up with proveable facts, maybe you could refrain from throwing insults in future, just because someone has a slightly different take on something to you.

because maintenance is working only with existing systems, and even then much of IT isn't "maintenance". Ever heard of developers? You have php, sql, oracle, sap, and a host of in house or specific application programs that need ground up development. Then there are network engineers and architects, installers, consultants, IT managers, licensing and asset management specialists, corporate trainers, government contract specialists, security specialists, network operations associates, NONE of wich have anything to do with any sort of maintenance oriented work. If I sound dismissive, maybe it's because I know you are not qualified to really make comment like that on the subject, and that sort of thing happens to drive "IT guys" up the wall as well. I cannot tell you how annoying it is having somebody who obviously has limited knowledge about what and how broad IT really is, trying to tell me about my profession, and it happens all the damn time.

[manning1]

Loud Noises
let me tell you why i retired from the IT..."madness". lol.
a little history.
and why i think some people have a hate for IT chaps.

in the mainframe big iron era , prior to pc's ,
all computing was centralised. in the IT department.

the positive aspect of this was audit/control/data security was maintained.
however , end users always often hated us IT people , years ago..
cos there werent a ton of us trained , so we were quite well paid compared to a lot
of end users. the free market in action...this bred jealousies of course.

i can remember a hilarious run in with a veep once.
he said "i'm dam well paying you what a member of parliament makes".
to which i replied "what do they know ?"..lol.
i had saved the company a ton of money.
in summary lots of end users didnt like our pay scales. being one point.
frankly end users like this annoyed me.
they werent getting up at 3am in the morning like i was to fix
some dam problem often of their creation.


they also didnt like "psychologically" haveing to rely on the IT department.
cos they didnt have the technical skills. they wanted CONTROL.
just normal understandeable human behaviour.


then the pc came out.
"AHA".."FREEDOM" , said lots of end users all over the world.
we can unshackle our reliance on those IT blokes now,
and do our own thing. ..lol.
it all looked good theoretically.
the only problem was organisational control was lost.
lots of rogue applications were developed and hidden away from "those IT blokes"..lol.
it got so bad in many orgs that it became a total "zoo".
hundreds and thousands of pc's all over the place.
lax data security n control, etc etc.
(IT people will know what i'm getting at).
in summary the org became like a war zone often.
and often to clear up the mess of course the "hated" IT guys had to pull their hair out.
to maintain some sorta organisation amongst the chaos.
which is why you read in the media of cases where someone bought a used pc,
only to find it contained confidential info or client accounts or info or whatever.
(a NOTE..to ALL...take it from an "old guy".
imho any institution that tells you , your personal data is secure, is full of it imho.
even with the best secure systems, mistakes can happen.
be VEWY VEWY carefull.!!)

in summary properly trained IT people are trained to maintain and develope
systems in an orderly professional manor.
unfortunately many users and orgs either dont have the time or budget to do such.
so often "quick fixes" are the norm.
or what i call "instant coffee systems solutions".

in recording , senior AE's talk about "you cant polish a song turd".
same in computer systems..lol. unfortunately there are thousands of
applications out there that are turds. often developed against the wishes/advice
of seasoned IT pro's.

thus i'm gonna stand tall with my fellow IT blokes, and say ,
its not that we are "anti social", its just that we are sick and tired of
cleaning up others system messes/stupidity that we advised against in the first place.
the basic problem being , most end users and CEO's dont want to hear the truth
that a proper system design will cost 2 million.
and when we tell them , they go off the deep end, try and do it understaffed
with poorly trained technical people....(read CHEAP.)
spending 200,000, and then wonder why it works poorly and ends up like a dogs breakfast.

one of the reasons i retired was IT has also become too sleazy for my liking.
when i started it was very professional. now...not so.
if a IT guy tries to do a bang up professional job, working insane hours,
the end result is often the poor devil has even more work lumped on him.
often the "good guys" are put upon.


ive lost count of the number of systems ive seen over the decades
that were "botch jobs"...to save money.
pro AE's will know what i'm getting at cos there are similarities.
a pro AE can take a poor song or band and prolly produce a smash hit song.
given the right budget. same in IT. good systems require proper funding.
the vast majority arent properly funded.
so the poor IT blokes throw up their hands in frustration n try n cope best they can.

to all you IT guys...the next time your CEO asks you to develope a system in
an impossible time frame. show him (or her ) this post if you have the "balls"..lol.
cos mebe worst case it'll make em as the legendary thomas watson of IBM fame once said
"think".

[Loud Noises]

A perspective from the days of task sharing and time swapping. I remember learning on the old Wang VS, but thankfully I never had to actually deal with it in the work environment. Things have changed so much, some for the good, allot for the bad. Yet another reason why I too gave up IT, at least for a while.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Loud Noises

because maintenance is working only with existing systems, and even then much of IT isn't "maintenance". Ever heard of developers? You have php, sql, oracle, sap, and a host of in house or specific application programs that need ground up development. Then there are network engineers and architects, installers, consultants, IT managers, licensing and asset management specialists, corporate trainers, government contract specialists, security specialists, network operations associates, NONE of wich have anything to do with any sort of maintenance oriented work. If I sound dismissive, maybe it's because I know you are not qualified to really make comment like that on the subject, and that sort of thing happens to drive "IT guys" up the wall as well. I cannot tell you how annoying it is having somebody who obviously has limited knowledge about what and how broad IT really is, trying to tell me about my profession, and it happens all the damn time.

you know nothing about me, what or who I know so cut the crap. I couldn't give a f**k about your position, or what pisses you off. You started this argument off by calling ME ignorant, when I passed a comment WHICH WAS ACTUALLY RELEVANT TO THE DAMN DISCUSSION.

The original thread, to me was dealing purely with IT guys dealing with callouts to end users of varying caliber of intelligence. I drew a simple parallel to tech callouts in a studio (remember, this is gearslutz, not ITslutz) and you called me ignorant. How PHP coding is relevant to dealing with an end user I don't know...why even bother bringing it up?

I'm quite aware there are many more IT jobs than troubleshooting user problems. I have plenty of friends (not all of whom are socially inept) who do these sorts of jobs. None of it is relevant to the original point.

So, if you've managed to get the chip on your shoulder filled in a little, maybe you'd realise that I'm not quite as ignorant as you suppose, and I actually do have a little understanding of your IT world.

[Jules]

[Loud Noises]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

you know nothing about me, what or who I know so cut the crap.... blah blah blah

Funny, there was nothing in the title or subject specific only to IT guys working support or help desk. Must have missed that. Look, you really only have a surface idea of what IT really is, maybe you did some support work, probably not. It's fairly obvious to me and others who have been in the field for many years that you are fairly green when it comes to the subject. You made a comment based on your vast experience watching Office Space. I base my opinion off nearly 20 years of experience actually doing the job. You wanted proof and explanation. I gave it to you. The question was asked why IT people are so antisocial, well you sure provided the example with that patronizing comment and then the resulting outburst after being proven wrong. Feel free to rant on. While I might look like an asshole, I have nothing to prove so it doesn't bother me.

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Seifer

I'm an IT GUY

I try to communicate with people... but they don't understand

I'm like "you only need a converter box if you use an antenna. you have cable, so clearly you don't need one"

and then the guy will be like "but duh change is a comin' them peoples gonna change duh TV in 2009 I gotta gits converter box so I can watch m'shows BUDDY"

and then later I'm like "you downloaded this virus right here, see look at me point at it on the screen. don't download this again."

and then after I leave they try to steal the exact same kid rock song again and download the exact same virus off of CRAPSTER or whatever and then call me and say "hey BUD you didn't fix my dang computer so GIT R DONE buddy ****in' truck balls AMERICA I gits a refund"

and then dudes, AND THEN, I swear this guy could not LOG IN so I looked at his user name and he typed "LIWS" so I said "your username and password are wrong. tell them to me" and he said "IT'S MY NAME" so then I look at my clipboard and see that his name is clearly "LEWIS" and he just can't spell it. I tell him the computer can't assume that he is spelling his name wrong like I can, but he didn't get it.

and then this lady is like "make mp3 before gits on CD" and I'm like "nah just copy them without converting them so you don't lose any quality" and she was like "you don't know nothin' mp3 is how the dang INTERNET sounds like PAL"

I want to die, or become a janitor. I could pick up turds as long as nobody talks to me I guess

You should move to a place like San Francisco- It might be less stressful, and people tend to know about computers and stuff.... The food is really good too.