The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Scribe]

As support/service I constantly try to think like a user, because frequently the solutions are far more simple than anyone would think. "My laptop's camera is dead" means that the privacy shutter is probably closed. "I can't print" translates to the USB cable is unplugged or, as I discovered some years back, the printer end of the USB cable is plugged into the Ethernet jack. "My computer won't boot" is quite possible the power bar is turned off and the PC has no power. Clients like to use terms that they've heard before, or parrot back to support people what they're saying, rather than give a description of the symptoms. This isn't helped by how first level support wants to hand calls off as quickly as possible rather than doing what they're hired to do; qualify the calls. I see my job as to educate users, so I put myself out of work. It's an ever moving goalpost so it's not going to happen anytime soon, but it's a philosophy that I work by.

Yeah, I'm not in support anymore, but every single day is a battle to make sure that whoever I am talking with, shares an understanding of the issue at hand. Every day, many times a day, for decades.

 

[Thomas Shey]

While I get that a number of people will say so without it being true, there can be few things as irritating as level one tech support telling you to do things you've already done and not believing you when you say you've already done them. It pretty much screams "I'm operating off a script and function as nothing but a speed bump to getting to someone who actually will be of some help."

 

[Ryujin]

Yeah, I'm not in support anymore, but every single day is a battle to make sure that whoever I am talking with, shares an understanding of the issue at hand. Every day, many times a day, for decades.

The majority of my work life has been doing some form of support. When I was in manufacturing I was quite surprised to find that the techs in computer resellers had very little understanding of basic troubleshooting. Many times I was overridden by upper management when I told clients that what they were demanding wouldn't fix their issues. "Just send the parts!" I'm trying to save time and money by getting things right the first time but someone stamping their little feet got listened to, instead of the guy they hired for his experience.

It doesn't help that the current helpdesk I'm working with is understaffed (for many reasons) and was so badly trained by those who preceded them that they frequently don't get locations, or even check that the equipment involved is something we support. When they do get a location it's sometimes incorrect. For example I've been sent to the 4th floor of a 3 floor building.

 

[Gradine]

I love ENworld but let's be honest, this place is never going to compete with "popular poster claims they're dying of cancer tomorrow, announces this on discord to let people if if they see his gamertag online it's because he gifted his accounts to family; his entire web of lies begin to immediately crumble around him, including but not limited to: being a PMC mercenary, meeting his future also mercenary wife 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'-style on the job, having a daughter who turned 14 two years in a row and then died three years later at the age of 15, etc." That's barely scratching the surface.

Like there's the drama that we have here on occasion, and then there's this

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Like there's the drama that we have here on occasion, and then there's this

So what you’re saying is …. MOAR DRAMA!!!

I will work harder. I mean, me and my black-ops battalion will work harder.

 

[CleverNickName]

Hey, at least I didn't make another one of my Survivor: 5E Classes thread about it. That's gotta count for something, right?

 

[Gradine]

So what you’re saying is …. MOAR DRAMA!!!

I will work harder. I mean, me and my black-ops battalion will work harder.

 

[Ryujin]

I love ENworld but let's be honest, this place is never going to compete with "popular poster claims they're dying of cancer tomorrow, announces this on discord to let people if if they see his gamertag online it's because he gifted his accounts to family; his entire web of lies begin to immediately crumble around him, including but not limited to: being a PMC mercenary, meeting his future also mercenary wife 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'-style on the job, having a daughter who turned 14 two years in a row and then died three years later at the age of 15, etc." That's barely scratching the surface.

Like there's the drama that we have here on occasion, and then there's this

Similar things seem rather common, for some reason. Years back, on a motorcycle forum, we had a guy who claimed to have been in the incident that served as the inspiration for the movie "Blackhawk Down." Talked about his former life as a hard butt drug smuggler, right down to sniping the competition. Purple Heart, Meritorious Service, blah blah blah. The problem was that he was posting on a board where one of the members was a government contractor who, rather interestingly, was something like adjutant to the general overseeing the Somalia situation at the time of the "Blackhawk Down" incident before retiring from service. He dug up the liar's service record. Another poster found his real name on a "stolen valour" website. He'd been sitting in a radio shack, in Korea, until being dishonourably discharged. I haven't posted there in years, because it was bought out by the same company that was strip mining every motorsports forum that they could buy, but the thread is still there. It's been 17 years and it feels like yesterday.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Hey, at least I didn't make another one of my Survivor: 5E Classes thread about it. That's gotta count for something, right?

Wait, is there another one?

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

And you were the one who barged in pontificating about the horrors of musicals. Speaking of which:

(engage hell-and-damnation sermon voice)
Speak no ill of the Horror That Is Rocky, for many of us have fond memories of Ye Olde Late-Night Picture Show when it was properly aired in two-screen theaters and college lecture halls nationwide, usually alongside Heavy Metal, the Wall or a Ralph Bakshi animated film. That era is lost, devoured by mall cinemas and the triune evils of VCR tapes, DVDs and streaming services. But the faithful still remember. Remember doing the Time Warp. Again!
(disengage hell-and-damnation sermon voice)

Although to be fair, Hot Patootie is admittedly not the best number on the soundtrack and is light on really amusing callbacks.